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Gwen Young
Hello and Aloha! My name is Gwendolyn Vaisega Young, Gwen for short. I just
celebrated my sixteenth year with NASA and am currently at the Edwards Air
Force Base in California, working at the Dryden Flight Research Center.
I am the Chief Financial Officer at Dryden and oversee the budget and accounting
functions for the Center's $200 million budget. Our main mission at Dryden
is Flight Research, and we have some very exciting programs, such as the
X-33 Program which will develop the next generation of launch vehicles.
The current Shuttle program began in 1981 and will be replaced by these
next generation vehicles.
Though I was born in Hawaii, I was primarily raised in Southern California. Because my Dad was in the military, we moved quite a bit during my childhood. Moving every couple of years was difficult and made making friends very hard. I took comfort in my studies and, unlike many girls, I thoroughly enjoyed math and science. In high school, I took great delight in challenging the boys to see who could get the highest grades. Though I did very well in high school, I had extremely poor career counseling ("you should be a nurse or a teacher") and had few role models to emulate. I'm participating in the "Women of NASA" program in hopes of providing an example to girls of color and to girls who enjoy math. Believe in yourself and know that you can be anything you choose. The sky is truly not the limit anymore, look at our women astronauts! When I was selected in 1995 as the CFO at Dryden, I was the second woman in the Agency to hold this position. There are now three women among the 10 CFOs at NASA. I received both a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Master's degree in Public Administration from Brigham Young University in Utah. After receiving my Master's degree, I was selected as a Presidential Management Intern and worked at NASA Headquarters in the Office of the Comptroller and the Space Station Program Office. During my internship, I also worked briefly on Capitol Hill for then Congressman Daniel K. Akaka. Through these experiences, I learned about the Federal budget process and decided to work in this area for the rest of my career. I enjoy learning about the technical aspects of the budget and developing strategies to formulate a strong budget justification and rationale for why NASA should receive the funding requested. Since completing my two-year internship in 1985, I have worked in the Office of Space Station in Reston, Virginia; the National Launch System's Joint Program Office (Air Force and NASA) in Los Angeles; and the Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. I transferred to the Dryden Flight Research Center in 1995, which is the closest I can live to my parents (Carlsbad, CA) and still work for NASA. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with NASA and look forward to the exciting future ahead. Archived Chats
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