NASA has officially appointed Sean Gallagher as the agency’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), effective immediately. Gallagher, who has served in an acting capacity since January, assumes full responsibility for NASA’s entire portfolio of information technology products and services.
“Sean Gallagher’s leadership has been instrumental in strengthening NASA’s IT foundation and ensuring our workforce has the secure, modern tools needed to enable groundbreaking missions every day,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson. “As CIO, Sean will continue advancing the agency’s technology capabilities to support discovery, innovation, and mission success across NASA.”
Prior to this appointment, Gallagher served as Deputy Chief Information Officer for Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, where he also acted as a Senior Advisor for Transformation. In these roles, he oversaw services supporting tens of thousands of users across the United States and internationally, facilitating faster data sharing, enhanced productivity, and mission-critical discoveries. He has collaborated extensively with all NASA centers to implement efficient and effective IT operating models.
Gallagher’s NASA career began in 2012 at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, where he progressed from Deputy CIO to Center CIO. In that capacity, he led IT initiatives supporting aeronautics, space exploration, research, engineering, and test missions. Before joining the agency, he worked as a senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, supporting a diverse portfolio of federal, defense, and commercial clients.
His leadership foundation was established during his service as a Signal Corps officer in the United States Army. His military assignments included roles as a platoon leader responsible for the combat service support readiness of a tactical communications unit, a human resources manager for the 40th Signal Battalion, and a network engineer for the 11th Signal Brigade. Gallagher holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from John Carroll University and a master’s degree in computer information systems from the University of Phoenix.
