Jim Reilly
Former Astronaut and Former Director of the US Geological Survey
Dr. Jim Reilly is an Executive Advisor in Booz Allen’s aerospace business. As a space systems expert and former astronaut, Jim works with the Booz Allen teams to develop innovative solutions for space-related services, earth systems characterization, and customer-facing applications for a variety of clients including the Department of Defense, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the intelligence community. In addition to the aerospace business, Jim recently joined the climate intelligence team and will work closely with Dr. Neil Jacobs who is joining the Firm as an executive advisor after serving as the Assistant Secretary for Earth Observation Programs at NOAA.
Jim has more than 25 years of multidisciplinary technical, engineering, and management experience in resource assessments; applications-focused earth systems characterization; space systems development, applications, and operations; and education.
Prior to joining Booz Allen, Jim Reilly was the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) where he managed an annual $1.8 billion operating budget for the nation's largest water, earth resources, biological science, natural hazards, and civilian mapping agency.
Before USGS, Jim served U.S. and allied militaries as a subject matter expert on space operations, and as a technical advisor supporting the National Security Space Institute of the U.S. Air Force.
As an astronaut at NASA, he had a distinguished 13-year career where he flew on three space shuttle missions and conducted five spacewalks totaling more than 856 hours in space.
In addition to Senior Management positions at TAEUS Corporation and PhotoStencil Corporation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Jim has held management positions in the private sector, academia, in government service, in the military, and has owned his own space technology-focused company. He served 17 years with the U.S. Navy as a reserve engineering duty officer and was designated a space systems expert in the Navy’s Space Cadre
Jim earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees in geosciences from the University of Texas at Dallas.
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