Michael D. Griffin#Career

Griffin's early career began at APL in the 1980s, where he helped design the successful Delta 180 series of missile defense technology satellites for the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). Griffin soon rose to deputy for technology, where he conceived and directed the first space-to-space interception of a ballistic missile in powered flight, and the first space-borne reconnaissance of ballistic missile targets in boost phase and mid-course flight.{{cite news|author=U.S. Department of Defense|title=Michael D. Griffin, Former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1992/11/04/another-orbital-sciences-rocket-failed-last-month-pentagon-says/fc6d19bc-c896-46e2-9f5a-adfc150f3ec2/|date=April 1, 2020}}

In 1991, Griffin was the president and CTO of Orbital Sciences,{{cite news|author=Kathy Sawyer|title=Rocket Failures Shake Space Industry, Washington Post|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/may99/rockets11.htm|date=May 11, 1999}} then a small entrepreneurial space launch company, with contracts from the government to build low-cost rocket launchers for the Brilliant Pebbles program. Despite early launch failures, in September 1992 they successfully sent a test probe to Mars.{{cite news|author=John Burgess|title=Another Orbital Sciences rocket failed last month, Pentagon says|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1992/11/04/another-orbital-sciences-rocket-failed-last-month-pentagon-says/fc6d19bc-c896-46e2-9f5a-adfc150f3ec2/|date=4 November 1992}}

In 1995, Griffin authored a report published by The Heritage Foundation, "Ending America's Vulnerability to Ballistic Missiles", offering recommendations for advancing the recently cancelled Brilliant Pebbles program.{{cite web|author=Michael Douglas Griffin|title=Defending America: Ending America's Vulnerability to Ballistic Missiles|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA338693.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125005016/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA338693.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=January 25, 2022|date=March 15, 1996}}{{cite web | title=MDA - 2014 Ronald Reagan Award Winner | website=www.mda.mil | url=https://www.mda.mil/about/griffin.html | access-date=2025-06-11}} There he advocated for a new proliferated low Earth orbit constellation of sensors and space-based interceptor weapons to defend against ballistic missiles.

In early 2002 he met entrepreneur Elon Musk and accompanied him on a trip to Russia, where they attempted to purchase ICBMs.{{cite web|author=Kenneth Chang|title=Entrepreneur Tries His Midas Touch in Space, New York Times|website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/science/spacex-nasa-astronauts.html|date=May 30, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200602022132/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/science/spacex-nasa-astronauts.html|archive-date=June 2, 2020}} The decision to found the company SpaceX was made on the flight home, and Griffin briefly considered serving as chief engineer,{{Cite book|last=Berger|first=Eric|title=Liftoff|publisher=William Morrow and Company|year=2021|isbn=978-0-06-297997-1|page=11}} but eventually he instead became president and COO of In-Q-Tel, a private enterprise funded by the CIA to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve national security interests.{{cite web|title=In-Q-Tel Names Dr. Michael D. Griffin as President and Chief Operating Officer|url=https://www.iqt.org/news/in-q-tel-names-dr-michael-d-griffin-as-president-and-chief-operating-officer/|date=August 5, 2002}}

In 2005, he was appointed NASA administrator, where he pushed for commercial cargo and crew transportation services.{{cite web|author=Tariq Malik|title=Griffin Reiterates NASA's Commitment to Commercial Cargo, Space News|url=https://spacenews.com/griffin-reiterates-commitment-commercial-services/|date=November 21, 2005}} After a Government Accountability Office protest, Griffin led a reorganization of a Rocketplane-Kistler contract into a competition called the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Twenty aerospace companies applied to the COTS program, of which two companies, SpaceX and Griffin's Orbital Sciences were eventually selected.{{cite web |last1=Bennett |first1=Jay |title=How SpaceX became NASA's go-to ride into orbit |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-spacex-became-nasas-go-to-ride-orbit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413084053/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-spacex-became-nasas-go-to-ride-orbit |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 13, 2021 |website=National Geographic|date=November 12, 2020 }} On COTS, Griffin later said "I was trying to take my In-Q-Tel experience and apply it, transfer it from the CIA over to NASA.” Reports circulated that the larger aerospace companies that considered competing for COTS were chased off by Griffin.{{cite web | title=Rocketplane Kistler Continues To Fight NASA COTS Decision | website=SpaceNews | date=2007-12-06 | url=https://spacenews.com/rocketplane-kistler-continues-fight-nasa-cots-decision/ | access-date=2025-06-11}} Griffin later said he assigned the award selection decision to Scott “Doc” Horowitz--a friend and fellow Mars Society member--"I explained my intentions and he carried it off."{{cite web | title=Michael D. Griffin Oral History | website=History | date=2013-01-12 | url=https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/C3PO/GriffinMD/GriffinMD_1-12-13.htm | access-date=2025-06-11}}

In December 2008, NASA awarded SpaceX and Orbital Sciences additional contracts with a combined value of $3.5 billion as part of the Commercial Resupply Services program.{{cite web|author=John Yembrick|title=C08-069: NASA Awards Space Station Commercial Resupply Services Contracts|url=https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/HQ_C08-069_ISS_Resupply.html|date=December 23, 2008|access-date=June 19, 2022|archive-date=December 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202115546/https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/HQ_C08-069_ISS_Resupply.html|url-status=dead}} Elon Musk credited these follow-on contracts for saving his company as it neared bankruptcy.{{cite web|author=Brian Berger|title=Why SpaceX's Elon Musk Says 2008 Was His Worst Year Ever|website=Space.com |url=https://www.space.com/25355-elon-musk-60-minutes-interview.html|date=3 April 2014}}

In February 2018, Griffin was appointed as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering by Donald Trump. One of his first actions was to create the Space Development Agency.{{cite web|author=Sandra Erwin, Space News|title=Space Development Agency a huge win for Griffin in his war against the status quo|url=https://spacenews.com/space-development-agency-a-huge-win-for-griffin-in-his-war-against-the-status-quo/|date=April 21, 2019}}{{cite web|author=Nathan Strout |title=What will the Space Development Agency really do?|url=https://www.sda.mil/what-will-the-space-development-agency-really-do/|date=July 24, 2019}} The organization was tasked with procuring a proliferated constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to detect Chinese and Russian hypersonic weapons. Commercial contracts for the constellation were given to L3Harris and SpaceX to build Starlink military satellites.{{cite web |last=Erwin|first=Sandra|url=https://spacenews.com/spacex-l3harris-win-space-development-agency-contracts-to-build-missile-warning-satellites/|title=L3Harris, SpaceX win Space Development Agency contracts to build missile-warning satellites|publisher=SpaceNews|date=October 5, 2020|access-date=December 1, 2021}} CIA Director Mike Pompeo called the project a "Strategic Defense Initiative for our time, the SDI II".{{cite web |url=https://nationalinterest.org/feature/nuclear-weapons-china-and-strategic-defense-initiative-century-199549 |title=Nuclear Weapons, China, and a Strategic Defense Initiative for this Century |first= Mike |last= Pompeo |date=January 18, 2022 }}

Griffin has encouraged the development of boost-glide hypersonic weapons such as the AGM-183 ARRW. In 2020, he signaled that the United States would be making a major investment in production of hypersonic weaponry at scale.{{cite news |last1= Harper |first1=Jon |title=Just In: Pentagon to Spend Billions Mass-Producing Hypersonic Weapons |url= https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/3/4/pentagon-to-spend-billions-mass-producing-hypersonic-weapons |access-date=May 17, 2020 |work= National Defense Magazine |date=March 4, 2020}}

Before his appointment as NASA administrator, Griffin was president-elect of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He is a member of American Astronautical Society and International Academy of Astronautics. Griffin had worked at NASA prior to serving as NASA administrator, including as associate administrator for exploration. When he was nominated as NASA chief, he was head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.{{when|date=May 2023}} Griffin has been a professor at various universities, teaching courses in spacecraft design, Applied Math, guidance and navigation, compressible flow, computational fluid dynamics, spacecraft attitude control, aerodynamics, and introductory aerospace engineering. He is lead author of more than two dozen technical papers, and is co-author with James R. French of the astronautical engineering textbook, Space Vehicle Design.{{ISBN|1-56347-539-1}} Griffin is also a general aviation flight Instructor and Pilot, and owner of a small airplane, a Beech Bonanza. In 2004 Griffin was named head of the Space Department at Johns Hopkins University APL.{{cite news|last=Buckley|first=Michael|title=Michael Griffin Heads Space Department at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory|url=http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2004/040419.asp|newspaper=JHU Applied Physics Laboratory Press Release|date=April 19, 2004}}

In or before 2023 Griffin joined the board of Castelion, a defense manufacturing company.{{cite web | title=Team | website=Castelion Corporation | date=October 22, 2023 | url=https://www.castelion.com/team | access-date=October 22, 2023}}

Griffin holds seven academic degrees that he earned throughout his career. He earned a BA degree in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1971; a MSE degree in aerospace science from the Catholic University of America in 1974; a PhD degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland in 1977;{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302836751/ |title=Numerical solutions for two- and three-dimensional non-reacting flowfields in an internal combustion engine |date=1977 |publisher=University of Maryland, College Park |type=Ph.D. |last=Griffin |first=Michael Douglas |id={{ProQuest |302836751 }} |url-access = subscription|oclc=17464785}} a MS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California in 1979; an MS degree in applied physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1983; an MBA degree from Loyola University Maryland in 1990; and an MS degree in civil engineering from George Washington University in 1998.[https://web.archive.org/web/20100608234441/http://www.mae.uah.edu/faculty/Griffin.shtml Dr. Michael Griffin]. UAH Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Retrieved July 26, 2011.[http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/griffin_bio.html NASA – Michael Griffin]. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved July 26, 2011. Griffin was also working toward an MS degree in computer science at Johns Hopkins University before being appointed as NASA chief.

In April 2009, Griffin was named eminent scholar and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

In 2004 testimony to Congress on the future of human spaceflight, he stated, "For me, the single overarching goal of human space flight is the human settlement of the Solar System, and eventually beyond. I can think of no lesser purpose sufficient to justify the difficulty of the enterprise, and no greater purpose is possible." In his testimony he also advocated heavy-lift launch capabilities, development of space qualified nuclear power systems, in situ resource utilization, and cost-effective medium-size transport to low Earth orbit.

Griffin told a Senate subcommittee that the first book he ever received was a book on astronomy and space when he was five years old, and "I was absolutely fascinated by it, and from that time forward, I never considered for myself anything other than being a Scientist or Engineer or Mathematician and involving myself in the space business."

Griffin has collaborated with several space advocacy organizations such as the National Space Society, Mars Society, and the Planetary Society:

• Griffin and Astronaut Owen K. Garriott were team co-leaders for a study commissioned by the Planetary Society entitled "Extending Human Presence Into the Solar System" in 2004. Griffin cited this study in his first press conference as NASA administrator to answer a question about sending humans to Mars, saying "I would urge you to download that report from the website because I don't have any better thinking to offer you than what I put into that report."{{Cite web|url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/aim_for_mars/study-report.pdf|title=Planetary.org Aim for Mars study report|access-date=August 3, 2006|archive-date=September 27, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927210019/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/aim_for_mars/study-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}
• Griffin was one of the original signatories of the Mars Society, which is dedicated to human settlement of Mars. Mars Society president Robert Zubrin recounts in his 1996 book, The Case for Mars, that in 1991, after Zubrin presented his ideas about a Mars mission architecture with Griffin, then NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration, Griffin presented these ideas to then NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin.
• Griffin shared the plenary talk with Elon Musk at the fourth Mars Society gathering in 2001. It was here that Musk announced his plan to grow plants on Mars.{{Cite web|url=https://marspedia.org/Mars_Society_Conventions_Chronology|title=Mars Society Conventions Chronology|website=Marspedia}}

File:Michael D. Griffin official portrait.jpg

Image:MichaelGriffinDickCheney2005-06-28.jpeg on June 28, 2005.]]

On March 11, 2005, President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Griffin to serve as the 11th Administrator of NASA. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 13, 2005. Griffin was subsequently sworn in by Vice-president Dick Cheney, a rarity for a NASA administrator and signifying the importance NASA held to the Bush Administration. Administration even recalled its former NASA transition Team Director and Chief of Staff, Courtney Stadd,Courtney Stadd to assist Griffin.{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/3730683564/|title=Charles F. Bolden Jr. Sworn In As Administrator (200907170002HQ)|date=July 17, 2009|via=Flickr}}

On September 28, 2007, Griffin said that NASA aims to put a man on Mars by 2037.{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070924/ts_alt_afp/spaceconferenceindiausmars_070924135921|title=Yahoo.com, NASA aims to put man on Mars by 2037}}

In an interview with The Guardian in July 2008 Griffin stated, in criticism of the Space Shuttle program, that an opportunity to push on to Mars by extending the Apollo program was squandered by a change in focus to Shuttle and space station programs that only reached orbit: "I spent some time analysing what we could have done had we used the budgets we received to explore the capabilities inherent in the Apollo hardware after it was built. The short answer is we would have been on Mars 15 or 20 years ago, instead of circling endlessly in low Earth orbit."[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/jul/26/spaceexploration.spacetechnology "Houston, we have a problem: Nasa will struggle when shuttle retires, says boss"] The Guardian July 26, 2008

Griffin has been criticized by space research organizations such as NASA Ames Research Center life sciences group for shifting portions of NASA's budget from science to human spaceflight. Griffin had stated that he would not shift "one thin dime" of funding from science to human spaceflight, but less than six months later, in February 2006, after NASA Constellation funding did not reach requested levels, NASA revealed a budget that reduced space research funding by about 25%, including indefinite deferrals of planned programs such as the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, the Terrestrial Planet Finder, and the Space Interferometry Mission.{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/01/AR2006040100022.html|title=Is NASA in Outer Space?|first=Michael|last=Benson|date=April 2, 2006|via=www.washingtonpost.com}} The logic was that funding Project Constellation, a presidentially mandated program, was the top priority of the space agency. Funding for a New York Company to research the Prometheus space nuclear program has also been put on hold, although Griffin has said he is anxious to pursue Prometheus after the earlier-priority development of the new spacecraft is completed.{{citation needed |date=July 2009 |reason=Which spacecraft?}}

Earlier, in November 2005, funding for life science research conducted largely out of Ames Research Center was cut by 80%, prompting representatives of the Ames life sciences group to write a scathing letter to Griffin criticizing this cut.{{Cite web|url=http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23183/|title=The Scientist News|access-date=June 27, 2006|archive-date=September 29, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122254/http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23183/|url-status=dead}} NASA field centers focused mainly on science rather than on human spaceflight, such as Ames and Glenn Research Center, have seen general budgetary downsizing, and many science contracts with outside researchers have been canceled.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2006-04-03-nasa-budget-programs_x.htm|title=Scientists, researchers feel pain of NASA budget cuts |website=USA Today }} Griffin attributed these cuts, along with cuts in the human spaceflight budget, as being necessitated by a $3.2 billion shortfall.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-budget-emphasizes-space-exploration/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711145019/http://news.cnet.com/NASA-budget-emphasizes-space-exploration/2100-11397_3-6035753.html|url-status=dead|title=NASA budget emphasizes space exploration|first=Stefanie|last=Olsen|website=CNET|archive-date=July 11, 2012}} The National Research Council also concluded that NASA's total funding has not been enough to fulfill all its mandates and remain strong in science.{{Cite web |url=http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2006_06_16/nasa_cutbacks_cause_uncertainty_among_space_researchers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231034352/http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2006_06_16/nasa_cutbacks_cause_uncertainty_among_space_researchers|url-status=dead|title=Science Careers.org: NASA Cutbacks Cause Uncertainty among Space Researchers|archive-date=December 31, 2006}} However, during Griffin's term, science budgets were, as a percentage of NASA's total budget, in line with those during Project Apollo. There has been some discussion, after the release of the Summary Report by the Human Space Flight Committee{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/offices/hsf/related_documents/summary_report.html|title=NASA – Summary Report from the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee |date=September 8, 2009 |website=www.nasa.gov}} that NASA has not been funded sufficiently to pursue a strong science program while continuing to focus on aeronautics and space exploration, the two key mission of the NASA. Limitations on NASA's budget include a mandated continuation of the Space Shuttle program, including safety upgrades and testing; the mandated construction of the International Space Station; the mandated development of the Vision for Space Exploration architecture; programs outside of human spaceflight, consisting of science research and aeronautics research; and an ever-increasing share of NASA's budget devoted to line-item earmarks sometimes characterized as pork barrel spending.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Vision for Space Exploration, announced by President Bush in 2004, mandated that NASA must use the Space Shuttle to finish construction of the International Space Station by the end of 2010. By June 2006, due to ongoing concerns with the safety of the Shuttle in the wake of the Columbia disaster, only one flight had been performed. Per the Presidential mandate of the Vision for Space Exploration, Griffin mandated that 18 more Space Shuttle flights be performed in the remaining four and a half years.

Griffin approved the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery for July 2006 to perform the second return-to-flight mission, overriding the NASA Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer, Bryan O'Connor. Although O'Connor said there were still unresolved concerns that foam insulation could break off of external fuel tank and damage the orbiter, Griffin characterized the risk as acceptable, arguing that it would be better to test one change at a time. With that flight NASA was testing the removal of protuberance air-load ramps from cable and fuel line fittings on the exterior of the external fuel tank.{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/28/AR2006062802095.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | title=Discovery's Goal: A Quiet Trip | first=Guy | last=Gugliotta | date=June 29, 2006 | access-date=May 12, 2010}} This launch proved that the changes made to prevent shedding of foam at the air-load ramps were successful, allowing the Shuttle program to work towards completion of the ISS by the presidentially mandated year of 2010. The construction of the ISS was completed in early 2011, and then the Space Shuttle was retired.

In a follow-up interview to his May 31 interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep airing June 1, 2007, on NPR News' Morning Edition, Griffin said:

{{blockquote|I have no doubt that global—that a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with. To assume that it is a problem is to assume that the state of Earth's climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that we could have or ever have had and that we need to take steps to make sure that it doesn't change.

First of all, I don't think it's within the power of human beings to assure that the climate does not change, as millions of years of history have shown, and second of all, I guess I would ask which human beings -where and when-are to be accorded the privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that's a rather arrogant position for people to take.{{Cite web|url=https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Administrator_Michael_Griffin_Not_Sure_Global_Warming_A_Problem_999.html|title=NASA Administrator Not Sure Global Warming A Problem|website=www.spacedaily.com}}}}

Some climate scientists referred to his remarks as ignorant.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19058588/ns/us_news-environment/t/nasa-chief-regrets-remarks-global-warming/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119142559/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19058588/ns/us_news-environment/t/nasa-chief-regrets-remarks-global-warming/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 19, 2016|title=NASA chief regrets remarks on global warming|first=Alicia|last=Chang|date=June 6, 2007|website=msnbc.com}} In particular, James E. Hansen, NASA's top official on climate change, said Griffin's comments showed "arrogance and ignorance", as millions will likely be harmed by global warming.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18964176|title=NASA head unsure global warming is a problem|date=June 1, 2007|website=msnbc.com}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/31/AR2007053101173.html|title=NASA Administrator Questions Need to Fight Global Warming|first=Marc|last=Kaufman|date=June 1, 2007|via=www.washingtonpost.com}} Jerry Mahlman, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said that Griffin was either "totally clueless" or "a deep antiglobal warming ideologue".{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/science/earth/01griffin.html | work=New York Times | title=NASA Leader: Who Says Warming Is a Problem? | date=June 1, 2007 | access-date=May 12, 2010}}

In a closed-door meeting on June 4, 2007, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Griffin said:

"Unfortunately, this is an issue which has become far more political than technical, and it would have been well for me to have stayed out of it." "All I can really do is apologize to all you guys. ... I feel badly that I caused this amount of controversy over something like this."

It was widely known that Griffin hoped to keep his job under President Barack Obama so that Constellation and NASA's other programs could maintain their steady progress.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6561467&page=1|title=NASA chief's wife to Obama: Don't fire my husband|access-date=January 28, 2023|date=January 1, 2009|work=ABC News}}{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-nasa1-2009jan01%2C0%2C1324414.story |title=Campaign to keep NASA administrator on the job |access-date=January 23, 2009 |date=January 1, 2009 |work=Los Angeles Times|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103163332/http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-nasa1-2009jan01%2C0%2C1324414.story |archive-date=January 3, 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://www.space.com/news/090101-nasa-griffin.html|title=NASA Chief's Wife to Obama: Don't Fire My Husband|access-date=January 23, 2009 |date=January 1, 2009|agency=Associated Press |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090122235557/http://www.space.com/news/090101-nasa-griffin.html|archive-date=January 22, 2009}} In a phone call on the day after the election, Senator Bill Nelson (D, FL) requested of Lori Garver, who led the incoming Obama Administration's Transition Team, that the Administration allow Griffin to remain as NASA administrator to provide programmatic and management continuity. However, his resignation (required of and offered by all agency heads due to an incoming president) was accepted. In part, this was because of disagreements between Griffin and Garver over the state of Project Constellation. Griffin gave a farewell address to NASA on January 16, 2009, in which he praised NASA for its recovery from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and urged employees to support the new administrator, whoever it may be.{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jc2d_p1DHvR8srpLfst9HA7oOBlQD95OD0O80|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209100916/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jc2d_p1DHvR8srpLfst9HA7oOBlQD95OD0O80|url-status=dead|archive-date = February 9, 2009|title=NASA chief Griffin says goodbye to employees|access-date=January 25, 2009|date= January 16, 2009|agency=Associated Press|author=Dunn, Marcia}}{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-nasa17-2009jan17,0,2043015.story|title=NASA chief Michael Griffin praises post-Columbia effort in farewell|access-date = January 25, 2009|date=January 17, 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|author=Johnson, John Jr.}} He left office the day President Obama was inaugurated.

On April 14, 2009, Griffin accepted a position as eminent scholar and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.{{cite web|url=http://www.uah.edu/News/newsread.php?newsID=1337|title=UAHuntsville appoints former NASA Administrator as eminent scholar, professor|author=Unknown|date=April 14, 2009|work=UAHuntsville|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111070133/http://www.uah.edu/News/newsread.php?newsID=1337|archive-date=November 11, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=April 15, 2009}} The university established the eminent scholar position in 1986.{{cite web|url=http://sacs.uah.edu/documents/policies/emminent_scholars_foundation_bylaws.pdf|title=Articles Of Incorporation of UAH Hi-Tech Eminent Scholars Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620194139/http://sacs.uah.edu/documents/policies/emminent_scholars_foundation_bylaws.pdf|archive-date=June 20, 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=April 26, 2010}} Griffin has established the Center for System Studies at the university, which will address the need for "systems thinking" in industry and the government. System studies involve research to understand the many complex ways that technology, nature, people, and society interact so that the workings of an engineered solution are more predictable and more desirable. UA Huntsville is a Space Grant university, and has a history of cooperation with both NASA at the nearby Marshall Space Flight Center, and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal. The campus serves as the anchor tenant in Cummings Research Park, the second-largest university research park in the USA.

In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Griffin was ranked as the #7 most popular space hero.{{cite web|url=http://www.spacefoundation.org/news/story.php?id=1038|title=Space Foundation Survey Reveals Broad Range of Space Heroes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723031011/http://www.spacefoundation.org/media/press-releases/space-foundation-survey-reveals-broad-range-space-heroes-early-astronauts-still?id=1038|archive-date=July 23, 2012|url-status=dead}}

On August 14, 2012, the Schafer Corporation announced that Griffin would assume the role of chairman and CEO at the company.{{cite web|url=http://schafercorp.com/news/2012/08/14.php|title=Schafer Corporation Appoints Michael Griffin Chairman and Chief Executive Officer|author=Unknown|date=August 14, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201190344/http://schafercorp.com/news/2012/08/14.php|archive-date=February 1, 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=August 14, 2012}} The Schafer Corporation is a technology company providing products and professional services to Government and Industry customers. It was founded in 1972.{{cite web|url=http://schafercorp.com/about/ourheritage.php|title=Schafer Corporation – Our Heritage|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627075313/http://www.schafercorp.com/about/ourheritage.php|archive-date=June 27, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=August 14, 2012}}

On December 4, 2017, Reuters reported that Griffin was nominated by President Donald Trump to be Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)).{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-defense/trump-to-nominate-former-nasa-chief-griffin-for-defense-undersecretary-idUSKBN1DY2WO|title=Trump to nominate former NASA chief Griffin for defense undersecretary|date=December 4, 2017|work=Reuters|access-date=December 7, 2017}} The U.S. Senate confirmed him by voice vote on February 15, 2018.{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/senate-picks-up-the-pace-with-confirmations-of-pentagon-chief-manager-top-air-force-weapons-buyer/article/2649295|title=Senate picks up the pace with confirmations of Pentagon Chief Manager, top Air Force weapons buyer|last=Tritten|first=Travis J.|work=Washington Examiner|access-date=February 22, 2018|language=en}}{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/1316|title=PN1316 — Michael D. Griffin — Department of Defense|date=February 15, 2018|website=U.S. Congress|access-date=February 18, 2018}}{{update after|2019}} As the USD(R&E), Griffin established technology modernization priorities for the DoD.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cto.mil/modernization-priorities/|title=modernization-priorities – DoD Research & Engineering|website=www.cto.mil|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216140052/https://www.cto.mil/modernization-priorities/|url-status=dead}}

On June 23, 2020, Griffin announced that he was leaving his position as USD(R&E) to pursue a private sector opportunity.{{Cite news|url=https://spacenews.com/undersecretary-of-defense-mike-griffin-and-deputy-lisa-porter-stepping-down|title=Undersecretary of Defense Mike Griffin and deputy Lisa Porter stepping down|date=June 23, 2020|website=space.com|access-date=June 30, 2020}} His deputy, Lisa Porter, announced her departure on the same date.

In August 2020, Griffin joined the board of directors at Rocket Lab, a recent SPAC.{{Cite web|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=August 12, 2020|title=Mike Griffin joins board of Rocket Lab|url=https://spacenews.com/mike-griffin-joins-board-of-rocket-lab/|access-date=September 8, 2020|website=SpaceNews|language=en-US}} As of December 12, 2022, Griffin has sold all company shares granted to him. The stock had lost more than 60% of its value since it became publicly traded in November 2020. Mike Griffin left the board in September 2024.{{Cite tweet |number=1835775299663081899 |user=RocketLab |title=We're saying thank you and farewell to Rocket Lab Board member, Mike Griffin, as he completes his tenure after four years serving the company. We're grateful for his experience and leadership helping to guide Rocket Lab's growth from a private start-up to a global industry leader in launch and space systems. We wish him all the best as he retires from the Rocket Lab's Board. |date=2024-09-16 |access-date=2024-09-16}}

Griffin is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Defense Department's highest award which can be conferred on a Non-Government employee, Distinguished Public Service Medal (1986); AIAA Space Systems Medal (1988), Significant Technical Accomplishment Award (Delta 183 Mission Team) from American Defense Preparedness Association (1989); NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal (1994); Goddard Astronautics Award (2007); and selection by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2008. Griffin received the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement's National Space Trophy in May 2009.{{cite web|url=http://rnasa.org/2009Files/winner2009.html|title = Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) – 2009 National Space Trophy Recipient|access-date=April 19, 2011|date=February 27, 2009|author=Marianne Dyson}}

On March 13, 2008, Griffin was awarded the title of 74th Honorary Chancellor at Florida Southern College during its annual Founder's Day Ceremony.

On May 22, 2011, Griffin was awarded honorary DE degree from the University of Notre Dame.{{cite web|title=University of Notre Dame |url=http://commencement.nd.edu/archives/honorary-degrees/ |work=Honorary Degrees |access-date=June 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813213048/http://commencement.nd.edu/archives/honorary-degrees/ |archive-date=August 13, 2011 }}

On July 11, 2018, asteroid 159999 Michaelgriffin was named after him. The main-belt asteroid was discovered by astronomer Marc Buie at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona, in 2006.

On January 1, 2020, Michael Griffin was named an IEEE fellow.

{{Reflist}}

• Nature 434, 261 (March 17, 2005); {{doi|10.1038/434261a}}

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