David McBride

David D. McBride is director of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. As such, he oversees all aspects of center management, strategy and operations at NASA Dryden, one of the 10 field centers of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. McBride was appointed director of NASA Dryden on Jan. 4, 2010, after having served as acting director since April 2009 upon the retirement of former center director Kevin L. Petersen. He had previously served as Dryden's deputy director since June 2008, first in an acting capacity and subsequently receiving the official appointment in January 2009. McBride's prior management assignments at NASA Dryden include serving as Associate Director for Programs, overseeing the center's portfolio of projects supporting exploration, science, and aeronautics. He also was program manager for NASA’s Flight Research Program at NASA Dryden. The Flight Research Program and Flight and Systems Demonstrations Project conducted flight research and discovery that expanded aerospace knowledge and capabilities. Activities included the record-breaking flight of the solar-powered Helios aircraft to more than 96,000 feet altitude, the Active Aeroelastic Wing flight research project and the revolutionary Intelligent Flight Control System that demonstrated adaptive neural network flight control systems. McBride's prior technical assignments include responsibilities as chief engineer for the X-33 Extended Test Range, and lead flight systems engineer for the X-31 and X-29 flight research programs and Dryden's F/A-18 Systems Research Aircraft. From 1993 through 1998, McBride served as executive vice president and chief information officer of McBride and Associates, Inc., a computer sales, service and systems integration firm in Albuquerque, N.M. McBride began his career at Dryden as a cooperative education student in 1982, specializing in the area of digital flight control systems analysis. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1985 and an executive Masters of Business Administration from the University of New Mexico in 1998.