HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Teresa Vanhooser, a native of Johnson City, Tenn., has been appointed deputy director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

In her new position, Vanhooser will work with Marshall Center Director Patrick Scheuermann to manage one of NASA's largest field installations, with nearly 6,000 on- and near-site civil service and contractor employees -- including those at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans -- and an annual budget of approximately $2.5 billion. Vanhooser will help oversee a broad range of propulsion, scientific and space transportation activities contributing to the nation's space program.

"There is no better candidate than Teresa Vanhooser to help me lead the Marshall Center into NASA's next era of exploration and discovery," Scheuermann said. "Over the course of her career, she has led, managed and supported projects and programs that span the breadth of Marshall's mission: space systems, propulsion systems, flight hardware, science and engineering.

"Teresa remains a tireless champion of the agency's goals and the nation's interests," he added. "I'm extremely proud to call on her to serve Marshall and NASA in this critical post."

Vanhooser previously was manager of the Marshall Center's Flight Programs & Partnerships Office from 2011 to 2012, leading implementation of the center's human exploration projects and tasks; flight mission programs and projects; and external partnerships.

She was appointed in 2000 to the Senior Executive Service, the personnel system that covers most of the top managerial, supervisory and policy positions in the executive branch of the federal government.

From 2007 to 2011, Vanhooser served as deputy manager, acting manager and manager of Ares Projects -- the launch vehicle development effort at Marshall which laid the foundation for development of NASA's Space Launch System, the heavy-lift launch vehicle set to carry human explorers to new destinations beyond Earth orbit.

From 2004 to 2007, she was co-deputy director of the Engineering Directorate at Marshall, overseeing design, testing, evaluation and operation of hardware and software associated with space transportation, spacecraft systems and science instruments and payloads at the center.

Vanhooser was deputy director of the Flight Projects Directorate in 2004. She was responsible for project management, design, development, integration, testing and operations of ground and flight systems for the International Space Station, and oversaw operations of the Chandra X-ray Observatory -- the world's most powerful X-ray telescope.

From 2000 to 2004, she was manager of the Payload Operations and Integration Department, overseeing all space station science research experiment operations, payload training and safety programs for the station crew and ground support personnel.

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NASA's Teresa Vanhooser appointed deputy director of Marshall Center