Cathy H. Mangum

Cathy H. Mangum is NASA’s acting deputy associate administrator, a role she began in February 2020. Previously, she served as the associate director at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. As associate director she served as the chief operating officer managing day-to-day operations with a focus on center commitments. In this capacity she was responsible for aligning Langley’s institutional resources and infrastructure to meet current and future NASA mission needs, optimizing both effectiveness and efficiency.

Prior to her appointment as associate director she served as director of the Center Operations Directorate (COD) at NASA Langley. As director for COD, Mangum was responsible for managing, applying, and overseeing the center’s integrated infrastructure management, research support, and center operations services. Specific services provided by COD include facility engineering and maintenance, security, environmental management, logistics management, real property and space utilization management, master planning, and utilities and energy management.

Mangum began her NASA career in 1983 as a contractor for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. In 1988, she was hired as an IT manager for the Aeronautics Mission Directorate. She progressed to director of the Management Operations Division in the Office of Aeronautics in 1994.

In 1996, she transitioned to NASA Langley where she helped to institute the newly established role of a federal Chief Information Officer (CIO). In 2003, she was named the acting CIO and became the Langley CIO in 2004. She also served as special assistant to the director of NASA Langley from March 2011 to June 2012 and provided the management and leadership of the Vibrant Transformation to Advance Langley (ViTAL) efforts and the center’s 20-year revitalization effort.

Mangum earned a bachelor’s degree in information management from James Madison University in 1983. The recipient of numerous awards, she is the recipient of two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals. She has also participated in several leadership development programs including the Senior Executive Service Career Development Program, the Harvard Senior Executives Fellows Program and multiple agency organizational development activities.

Mangum lives in Poquoson, Virginia, with her husband Richard. They have two children and one grandson.

Langley, founded in 1917, is the nation’s first civilian aeronautical research facility and NASA’s first field center. Langley is where NASA researches solutions to challenges ranging from global climate change and access to space, to air travel, and future aviation vehicles.