Douglas A. "Doug" Comstock
Director, Innovative Partnership Programs Office, NASA Headquarters, USA
Doug was named the Director of NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) in October of 2006. The Innovative Partnerships Program Office was created in 2005 to provide leveraged technology for NASA's mission directorates, programs and projects through investments and technology partnerships with industry, academia, government agencies and national laboratories. In leading this office, Doug directs a number of partnering mechanisms such as Small Business Innovative Research, technology transfer, the Centennial Challenges and Red Planet Capital, and will encourage and facilitate the agency's purchase of emerging commercial services.
Doug previously served as the NASA Comptroller beginning in February of 2005, responsible for the preparation, tracking, presentation, and defense of NASA’s budget to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congress. He was also responsible for approval, allocation and monitoring of NASA’s funds consistent with direction from Congress and the Administration. Doug came to NASA in June of 2002 as the founding Director of the Strategic Investments Division, which integrated strategic planning and program analysis supporting budget decisions into a single organization. Under his leadership, NASA was the first agency to achieve GREEN status as part of the President’s Management Agenda for Budget and Performance Integration (BPI) and NASA received its first honorable mention for the President's Quality Award.
Prior to joining NASA, Doug was with the White House Office of Management and Budget. He spent four years there as a Program Examiner with responsibility for NASA’s space flight activities including the Space Shuttle and Space Station, as well as biological and physical research, and personnel. He worked closely with other White House offices including the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council in helping formulate administration policies in science and space.
Prior to his government service, Doug worked in the private sector, most recently as Director of Engineering with the Futron Corporation, a Bethesda, Maryland-based technology consulting firm. His work focused on developing analytical approaches and tools for better understanding complex issues to enable better decisions, for clients in Government and industry.
Doug began his career with General Dynamics Space Systems Division in San Diego, California as a preliminary design engineer, and spent two years in Huntsville, Alabama as Deputy Program Manager for the Space Transportation Infrastructure Study. He did preliminary design and systems analysis for numerous aerospace systems, from strategic defense to advanced space transportation.
Doug has undergraduate degrees from the University of Washington in both Mechanical Engineering and Architecture. He did his graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and received Masters degrees in both Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Technology and Policy.
Doug resides in Ashburn, Virginia and is married to the former Susan Louk. They have two children. He loves the outdoors, particularly when skiing or fishing.