Jim Bridenstine

James Frederick Bridenstine (born June 15, 1975) is an American military officer and politician who served as the 13th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Bridenstine was born on June 15, 1975, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

He grew up in Arlington, Texas, the son of an elementary school teacher and an accountant, where he became an Eagle Scout.

The 1st is a heavily Republican district with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+16, and has been in Republican hands since 1987.

Bridenstine graduated from Jenks High School in 1993, and earned a scholarship to Rice University in Houston, Texas, but injured his shoulder during his second year; he took five years to graduate, in 1998.

He triple majored with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Psychology, and Business.

Bridenstine joined the Navy in May 1998, after graduating from Rice University.

He was a Naval Aviator in both the active duty United States Navy and the United States Naval Reserve.

He flew the E-2C Hawkeye aircraft as part of a carrier air wing with the U.S. Navy and in Central and South America in support of the War on Drugs with the Naval Reserve.

He later moved to the F/A-18 Hornet and flew at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, in Nevada

In 2006, Bridenstine bought stock in the Rocket Racing League (RRL), which planned to begin races in 2008.

In January 2007, he met with Tulsa city officials, asking for support for establishing a team in that city, and later in 2007 he invested in an RRL team.

In 2007, after the end of his active duty in the Navy, Bridenstine moved to Orlando, Florida, where he worked at Wyle Laboratories, a defense consulting firm.

In 2008, Bridenstine and his family moved back to Tulsa to be closer to his family, and he became the chief pilot for the Tulsa team of the RRL.

In December 2008, Bridenstine became the executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum.

He later received a Master's in Business Administration from Cornell University, awarded in 2009.

In November 2009, he proposed to the head of RRL that the league put on an air show in Tulsa, and in February 2010 the museum announced that it would partner with RRL for the show.

The April 2010 show attracted around 40,000 spectators, but lost $330,000, and overall fundraising events for the museum for 2010 lost $400,000.

Bridenstine left the executive director's position in August 2010, along with the museum's financial controller and the director of marketing.

In 2010, Bridenstine began serving in the Navy Reserve.

In September 2011, Bridenstine launched a campaign to unseat five-term incumbent U.S. Congressman John Sullivan.

Bridenstine won the June 2012 Republican primary election with 54% of the vote.

Although he identified with the Tea Party and was perceived as running to Sullivan's right, Bridenstine's actual policy statements differed little from those of Sullivan.

Bridenstine had effectively clinched a seat in Congress by ousting Sullivan in the Republican primary.

In the November 2012 general election, Bridenstine defeated Democratic nominee John Olson 63%–32%, winning all five counties in the district.

Bridenstine was the United States representative for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district, based in Tulsa from January 3, 2013, to April 23, 2018.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

Bridenstine currently works in the private sector and holds positions at Voyager Space Holdings, Viasat, Acorn Growth Companies and Firefly Aerospace.

Bridenstine ran unopposed in the 2014 election.

His top campaign contributors were Northrop Grumman, Latshaw Drilling, American Optometric Association, Citizens United and the Every Republican is Crucial Political Action Committee.

He received $29,000 from donors associated with the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians and the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ), per an analysis of OpenSecrets.

In 2015, two years after become a U.S. Representative, he transferred his Reserve commission and joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard.

His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, during his junior year of high school, and during his senior year he was captain of the Jenks High School swim team and Oklahoma Swimmer of the Year; as of mid-2016, was one of a team of four that held the Oklahoma state record in the 200-meter freestyle relay for age group 17–18.

Bridenstine retained his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2016 election.

Following the 2016 presidential election, Bridenstine was viewed as a possible candidate for either NASA administrator or Secretary of the Air Force under the Donald Trump administration.

On September 1, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Bridenstine to be the Administrator of NASA; he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 19, 2018, by a party-line vote of 50–49.

Bridenstine was on the Committee on Science, Space and Technology during his time in Congress.

He is the first elected official to be appointed NASA Administrator.

Bridenstine stepped down as the head of NASA on January 20, 2021, to make way for a new leader in the Biden Administration.

Former Senator and astronaut Bill Nelson was announced on March 19, 2021, as his chosen successor.