Ellen Stofan Named Chief Scientist at NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has named Ellen Stofan as its new chief scientist. She will begin her new role on August 25. She is a planetary geologist who has studied Venus, Mars, and Saturn’s moon Titan.

Dr. Stofan spent nine years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at CalTech from 1991 to 2000. She has been serving as vice president of Proxemy Research in Laytonsville, Maryland, and as an honorary professor in the department of earth sciences at University College London.

Dr. Stofan is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She hold a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in geological sciences from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.