Julie White

Julie Kramer White

Deputy Director, Engineering
NASA Johnson Space Center

 

 


 

 

 


Area of interests for collaboration and/or mentorship:

  • Spacecraft design
  • Balancing technical and programmatic constraints
  • Public Private Partnerships for Space

Julie Kramer White grew up in Indiana. She knew when she was in high school that she wanted to pursue a career at NASA. To enable that goal, she received a B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1990. She was selected for a cooperative education internship at NASA Johnson Space Center in 1986, which lead to her conversion to a full-time NASA employee after graduation. She started her NASA career in the Structural Mechanics Division, learning the fundamental disciplines of thermal analysis, failure analysis, mechanical design and stress analysis, and was eventually responsible for ensuring structural integrity of the Space Shuttle Orbiter vehicles for each flight. Her interest in mechanics of materials and aging aircraft led her to University of Utah for a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1994.

Kramer White has over 30 years contributing to NASA Human Spaceflight Programs, working in structural design, analysis, certification and vehicle systems engineering. She has provided critical expertise and technical leadership on Space Shuttle Orbiter, X-38, and International Space Station (ISS), and was one of the founding members of NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) after the Columbia accident. From 2006 to 2017, Kramer White was Chief Engineer for the Orion Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle. In that position, she was responsible for guiding the Orion technical team in the development the first, human rated, deep space exploration vehicle since Apollo. Kramer White has most recently transitioned to the role of Deputy Director of Engineering for the Johnson Space Center where she is responsible for providing critical engineering support to all of NASA’s human spaceflight programs, including ISS, Orion, the Commercial Crew Program and NASA’s latest lunar exploration campaign.

Kramer White is the recipient of multiple NASA leadership and achievement medals, the Rotary Mid-Career Achievement as well as the prestigious NASA Space Flight Awareness Silver Snoopy award. The Silver Snoopy is an award given by NASA’s astronauts for professionalism, dedication and outstanding support to mission success in Human Space Flight. After the successful Orion Exploration Flight Test – 1 (EFT-1) test flight in 2014, Kramer White was personally recognized by President Obama for her contributions to our nation’s space program as an exemplary civil servant leader. In 2015, she returned to Purdue as a part of the Old Master’s Program, and in 2017, she was honored with the Outstanding Aerospace Engineer award, given by the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Julie and her husband of 20 years, Robert K. White, live in El Lago, Texas, with their 16-year-old daughter, two dogs, three cats and assorted fish.