Donovan Mathias

Division Chief

As chief of the NAS Division, Donovan Mathias oversees the full range of high-performance computing services for NASA’s primary supercomputing center. He also manages NAS’s modeling and simulation research and development efforts, which are critical for numerous agency missions. Mathias’ key responsibilities are setting high-level objectives for the division, creating and maintaining a productive, high-impact computational facility, and coordinating technical strategy with both Ames and NASA Headquarters management. This work encompasses managing about 200 research and development (R&D) scientists, engineers, and support staff comprised of civil servants and contractors.

Since joining NASA in 1993, Mathias has developed risk assessment tools that incorporate physics-based analyses for numerous NASA aircraft and spacecraft architecture studies and asteroid risk assessments. Previously, he was deputy chief of the NAS Division, and led the Asteroid Threat Assessment Project (ATAP) and the Engineering Risk Assessment team at NASA Ames. He also served as the crew safety and reliability manager for the Ares I crew launch vehicle. He also served as principle investigator for the Simulation Assisted Risk Assessment (SARA) project.

For his work to advance the state-of-the-art risk assessment methods, Mathias has received numerous NASA honors, including two NASA Exceptional Leadership Medals, a Space Flight Awareness Award, the Silver Snoopy, and group achievement awards. He obtained a bachelor's and a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and holds a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University.