Gregory Robinson
Keynote Speaker, TIME100 Pioneer 2022, 33-Year Veteran of NASA, Former Director, James Webb Space Telescope, Columbia University Faculty
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Best-known as the turnaround leader of the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), 33-year NASA veteran Gregory Robinson is credited with transforming a program that was billions over budget and years behind schedule into one of NASA’s greatest achievements of the 21st century. Robinson’s renowned leadership skills and soft-spoken management and communication style have earned him numerous awards and honors, including being named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2022 (alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky) and receiving the TIME100 Impact Award, which credited Robinson’s leadership on Webb as bringing us closer to understanding the universe.
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A 33-year veteran of NASA, Gregory Robinson is the former director of the $10 billion dollar James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). With 100 times more power than its predecessor, the Hubble Telescope, Webb is considered one of NASA’s greatest achievements of the 21st century. Robinson’s role in not only turning around an over budget program that was tarnished by a series of setbacks—but actually raising its efficiency rating from 55% to 95%—is attributed to his winning leadership style and willingness to shake up the status quo. He is credited with radically streamlining communications with multiple stakeholders (including four different committees in Congress, the Office of Management, Budget, aerospace contractors, international space agencies, the White House and more), smoothing political tensions, motivating teams and elevating transparency. He also drew widespread praise for his calm, soft-spoken leadership and communications style, and effective oversight of nearly 20,000 scientists, engineers and support staff in 29 countries and 14 U.S. states. Today, Webb is one million miles from Earth, transmitting never-before seen images. Over its projected 20-year lifespan, the space observatory is expected to capture galaxies being born and record the very origins of the universe itself, in many ways thanks to Robinson’s quiet, unassuming and highly effective leadership.
In honor of his achievements, Robinson was named to TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2022 and EBONY’s 2022 Power 100 lists, and is a recipient of the TIME100 Impact Award. He was named 2022 Federal Employee of the Year and received the 2022 Distinguished Presidential Rank Award, one of the highest awards bestowed upon career senior executives by the President of the United States of America. His talents were also recognized by Columbia University, which recruited him to the faculty of the School of Professional Studies, where he now lectures on information and knowledge strategy and leading large, complex projects.
Prior to overseeing the Webb Space Telescope, Gregory Robinson’s roles at NASA ranged from leading 114 missions for the Science Mission Directorate to being intricately involved with the 21 shuttle launches following the Columbia Shuttle accident. Robinson joined NASA in 1989, after graduating from HBCU Howard University with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering, joining the slim ranks of Black professionals at the agency. His against-the-odds path to the highest levels of NASA began as the ninth of eleven children born to tobacco sharecroppers in segregated rural Virginia. Although Robinson had a notable talent for math and science, a football scholarship paid his way to Virginia Union University, where studied mathematics before transferring to Howard.
Why are some companies ordinary while others can reach for the stars? When you look at companies like Tesla and Amazon, they are changing the world. But not every company can do the extraordinary—unless they have a great leader. Gregory Robinson, a 33-year NASA veteran, knows all about leading an organization to accomplish the extraordinary. In 2018, Gregory was tasked with leading the $10 billion James Webb Telescope Program, which at the time was billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. In doing so, he oversaw thousands of scientists, engineers, and staff in multiple organizations and countries. With its successful launch, the telescope changed our understanding of the universe. In this dynamic talk, Gregory shares his insights on how to lead others to do the extraordinary. Audiences will come away with how to communicate, build trust, and envision, so they can accomplish their own extraordinary goals.
In 2022, Time Magazine declared Gregory Robinson as one of the most influential people. With his determined leadership, he helped launch the $10 billion James Webb Telescope, which changed our understanding of the universe. But his future success was never guaranteed. Born ninth among eleven children to tobacco sharecroppers in Virginia, Gregory had to attend racially segregated schools and earn a football scholarship in order to put himself through college. In this moving talk, Gregory will share how he went from a sharecropper’s son to one of the most respected leaders in NASA and one of Time Magazine’s most influential people.
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