DOD R&D Nominee Advances to Senate Floor
Aprille Ericsson is the new business lead at Goddard Space Flight Center.
(Bill Hrybyk / NASA Goddard)
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted last week to advance the nomination of Aprille Ericsson to be assistant secretary of defense for science and technology.
Ericsson has worked at NASA for three decades, most recently as lead business strategist at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Ericsson was selected by President Biden for the defense role last September.
The role was created through a reorganization in the Department of Defense which replaced three deputy chief technology officer roles with equivalent assistant secretary positions requiring Senate confirmation. Nominees for the other two assistant secretary roles have not yet been announced.
If confirmed by the Senate, Ericsson will oversee DOD’s Small Business Innovation Research program and make policy decisions impacting the defense STEM workforce, labs, and test infrastructure.
