DraperU: Achieving the Impossible with NASA's Dan Goldin

Dan Goldin

Former Administrator, Cold Canyon

Daniel S. Goldin is an American engineer, entrepreneur, and visionary technologist renowned as NASA's ninth and longest-serving Administrator from 1992 to 2001, where he revitalized the post-Cold War agency under three presidents by championing the "faster, better, cheaper" philosophy—slashing costs, accelerating development, and launching prolific missions like the Hubble repair, Mars Pathfinder, and contributions to the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Spitzer Telescope, and James Webb Space Telescope—while forging international partnerships that birthed the International Space Station despite constrained budgets. Starting his career at NASA's Glenn Research Center on electric propulsion after earning a BS in mechanical engineering from City College of New York in 1962, Goldin spent 25 years at TRW rising to VP and GM, leading classified national security space programs, before returning to NASA to instill risk-tolerant innovation and commercial opportunities. Today, as founder of innovation advisory firm Cold Canyon and senior advisor to Cerberus Capital Management, he mentors deep-tech leaders, speaks on AI, hypersonics, semiconductors, and national security, and advocates for American technological renaissance through newsletters, awards, and forums like the Space Symposium.