NASA Administrator Michael Griffin announced Friday that Simon P. "Pete" Worden will be the next director of NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffet Field, Calif. Worden, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, is a research professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Ames Research Center is located in California's Silicon Valley at the core of the research cluster of high-tech companies, universities and laboratories that define the region's character. With more than $3 billion in capital equipment, 2,500 research personnel and an approximately $600 million annual budget, Ames has a significant economic impact in the region.

During his Air Force service, Worden held director and deputy director level positions with the Air Force Space Command, where he was responsible for developing new programs, including next generation launch concepts. He also was commander of the 50th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force Space Command. He also served as 2nd deputy for technology with the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, where he received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for directing the 1994 Clementine lunar probe mission.

Worden holds a bachelor's degree in astronomy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Arizona.

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