Faculty and Staff

Full-time Faculty

Headshot of Professor Scott Pace

Dr. Scott Pace

(Ph.D., RAND Graduate School; Professor of Practice in International Affairs, Elliott School) is the Director of the Space Policy Institute. His research interests include civil, commercial, and national security space policy. From 2005-2008, he served as the Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation at NASA. Prior to NASA, Dr. Pace was the Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).


Henry Hertzfeld

Dr. Henry R. Hertzfeld 

(Ph.D., Temple University; J.D., George Washington University) is a Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs at The Elliott School, and an adjunct Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. His research interests include economic and legal issues of space policy, commercial uses of space technologies, technology policy, innovation and technology transfer, microeconomic analysis and administrative law.


Dr. John M. Logsdon 

(Ph.D., New York University) is Professor Emeritus at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where he was the founder and long-time director of GW’s Space Policy Institute. Dr. Logsdon’s research interests focus on the policy and historical aspects of U.S. and international space activities. He is author, among many articles, essays, and edited books, of the award-winning studies John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon (2010); After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program (2015); and Ronald Reagan and the Space Frontier (2019). Dr. Logsdon was general editor of the seven-volume series Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program (1995-2008) and of The Penguin Book of Outer Space Exploration (2018). Dr. Logsdon is a member of the Board of Directors of the Planetary Society. In 2003 he was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, and formerly was a member of the NASA Advisory Council. He is a sought-after commentator on space issues by the electronic and print media.


Dr. Pascale Ehrenfreund

Pascale Ehrenfreund is Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs at the Space Policy Institute/George Washington University in Washington DC and the President of the Committee of Space research (COSPAR). She serves on the Board of Directors of the Space Foundation and is Co-chair of the Global Future Council on Space of the World Economic Forum. Since three decades she contributed as Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator and Teamleader to ESA and NASA astronomy and planetary missions as well as experiments in low Earth orbit and on the International Space Station. Pascale Ehrenfreund served as the President of the International Space University (ISU) (2021-2023), the President of the International Astronautical Federation (2019-2022), the Chair of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) (2015-2020) and the President of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (2013-2015). Pascale Ehrenfreund is enlisted in the Stanford World Ranking Top 2% Scientists 2022 and holds a Master degree in Molecular Biology, a PhD in Astrophysics, and a Master degree in Management & Leadership. The asteroid “9826 Ehrenfreund 2114 T-3” bears her name.


Dr. Aaron Bateman

(Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University) is an assistant professor of history and international affairs. His research takes place at the intersection of science, technology, and national security during the Cold War. His research interests include technological cooperation and competition, military spaceflight, secrecy and knowledge regulation, arms control, technology and warfare, and the role of intelligence in statecraft. Prior to graduate school, he served as a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer with assignments at the National Security Agency and the Pentagon.


Part-Time Faculty

Dr. Peter L. Hays

(Ph.D., Tufts University) is a Senior Space Policy Analyst with Falcon Research supporting the Principal Department of Defense Space Advisor Staff where he helps to develop and implement space policy and strategy initiatives. Dr. Hays holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School and was an honor graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He served internships at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Space Council. Hays previously taught space policy courses at the United States Air Force Academy School of Advanced Airpower Studies and National Defense University. His major publications include Handbook of Space Security, Space and Security, and Toward a Theory of Spacepower.


Dr. Matthew Jenkins

(Ph.D., Institute of World Politics) instructs the undergraduate course ““Space Policy.” Dr. Matthew Jenkins spent 16 years serving in the U.S. Air Force and Space Force, where he built and operated satellites to support the military and the Intelligence Community. Matthew Jenkins has more than 18 years of space experience in everything from acquisition, launch, operations, and disposal. He has interfaced with the National Space Council at the Executive Office of the President and briefed the House Homeland Security Committee staff on emerging space challenges.


John Klein

Dr. John J. Klein 

(Ph.D., University of Reading) instructs the undergraduate course “Space in International Affairs.” He is a senior fellow and strategist at Falcon Research, Inc. and supports the Department of Defense develop and implement space policy and strategy. He routinely writes on spacepower theory, space strategy, deterrence, and the Law of Armed Conflict. Dr. Klein holds a master’s in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, a master’s in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, and a Ph.D. in Strategic Studies from the University of Reading in England. He is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. He is the author of the books Understanding Space Strategy: The Art of War in Space (2019) and Space Warfare: Strategy, Principles and Policy (2006).


Faculty Associates

Dr. Joseph J. Cordes

(Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) is the Director of the Public Policy Ph.D. Program, as well as a Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Public Administration, and International Affairs. His research interests include public finance, taxation, and corporate financial policy. He is also the acting Director of Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University (GW-TSPPPA).


Dr. Michael Keidar

(Ph.D., Tel Aviv University) is the Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Neurological Surgery at the George Washington University. He received the M.Sc. degree with honors (focus area: Electric Propulsion) from Kharkov Aviation Institute, Kharkov, Ukraine, in 1989 and the Ph.D. degree from Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1997 (focus area: Plasma Engineering). He was a Fulbright Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, a Research Associate with Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and a Research Scientist and Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research concerns advanced spacecraft propulsion, plasma-based nanotechnology, and plasma medicine. He has authored over 210 journal articles and author of textbook “Plasma Engineering: from Aerospace and Nano and Bio technology” (Elsevier, March 2013). He received Hegarty Innovation Prize, Distinguished Researcher Award. Physics of Plasmas selects 2001 paper on Hall thruster as one of its most cited papers in the 50 years of its publishing. Prof. Keidar serves as an Academic Editor of the AIP Advances, Editor-in-chief of Graphene, a member of Editorial Board of Scientific Reports (Nature) and many other journals. He is Director of GW Institute for Nanotechnology. He is Fellow of American Physical Society (APS), Associate Fellow of AIAA.


Dr. Steven Livingston

(Ph.D., Political Science, University of Washington, 1990) is a Professor of Media and Public Affairs and International Affairs with appointments in the School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) and the Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA). In 2016-17, Livingston is a senior fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University. He is also a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution’s program in Governance Studies and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. In the spring of 2017, he will be a visiting professor of political science at St. Gallen University in Switzerland. His research centers on the role of technology in governance and the provisioning of public goods, including human security and rights. Among other publications, Livingston has written When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina (W. Lance Bennett and Regina Lawrence, co-authors) (University of Chicago Press, 2007). With Gregor Walter-Drop he edited Bits and Atoms: Information and Communication Technology in Areas of Limited Statehood (Oxford University Press, 2014), Africa’s Evolving Infosystems: A Pathway to Security and Stability (NDU Press, 2011) and Africa’s Information Revolution: Implications for Crime, Policing, and Citizen Security (NDU Press, 2013). He has also written several policy papers on commercial remote sensing satellites. Over the last decade, Livingston has worked and traveled to over 50 countries, mostly in Africa and South America, but also to Iraq and Afghanistan on several occasions.


Dr. Zoe Szajnfarber

(Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is a Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering and of International Affairs at The George Washington University. She studies the design and development of complex systems, primarily in the aerospace and defense sectors. Her work considers both the organization and technical system architectures to “design-in” an ability to achieve performance goals across extended and highly uncertain operational lifetimes. Recent projects examine the nature and function of scientific and technical expertise in the design process, particularly in the context of open innovation. Dr. Szajnfarber holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Systems and dual S.M. degrees in Aeronautics & Astronautics and Technology Policy, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A.Sc. degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. Outside of Academia she has worked as a systems engineer at Dynacon and MDA Space Missions, and a technology and innovation policy advisor for the European Space Agency and NASA.


Administrative Staff

George V. Leaua

George Leaua

George Leaua is the Program Associate to the Space Policy Institute and the Institute for International Science & Technology Policy. George received his BA in International Affairs and MA in International Science and Technology Policy from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. During his studies, George worked for the Nuclear Energy Agency at the OECD in Paris, the Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations in NYC, and the Romanian Embassy in Washington, DC. Before joining SPI and IISTP, he worked as an independent consultant and a researcher for the Swiss Institute for Alternative Thinking, focusing on technological opportunities for the development of small states, and Artificial Intelligence innovations. Previously, he worked as a project manager for G-SPACE, Inc., enabling the business development and government relations projects of the AI-powered space start-up. In his spare time, George loves to cook new dishes from around the world.


Jim Allred SPI_Staff Assistant (2023-2024)

Jim Allred

Jim is the Staff Assistant (2023-2024) for the Space Policy Institute.  Always looking for ways to contribute, for the next adventure.  Having lived many careers: IBM, United States Navy, Bank of America, now, Jim looks upward towards the stars to help humanity.  Jim is pursuing a Master of Arts in the International Science and Technology Policy Program with a concentration in Space Policy in the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University.  Filled with vast and diverse experiences and interests, Jim provides the Space Policy Institute with leadership, expertise, compassion, and open eyes to new possibilities that await us in nearby planets, moons, and the stars beyond.

Jim graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor of Science Business Administration, International Business in 1995 and a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science in 1997.  While serving in the United State Navy in the Indo-Pacific fleet from Japan onboard the USS ESSEX (LHD-2), Jim graduated with a Master in Strategic Intelligence in 2008.

The question is often asked, “Why the Space Policy Institute?”  Jim answers by always expressing gratitude for this opportunity to learn, share, and be a part of the modern space age with dreams of settling on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  Thank you.  Jim has much to share and eager to learn more. 

Stop by the Space Policy Institute on the fourth floor of the Elliott School of International Affairs to meet everyone and to learn how you too can help put Earthers on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  Volunteer, too.  See you in class or at the next ISTP/SPI events or GW Space Society gatherings…