George Whitesides is CEO of Virgin Galactic, the space flight company founded by Richard Branson, and of its sister firm, the Spaceship Co. In his roles, Prior to Virgin Galactic, George served as Chief of Staff for NASA. Upon departure from the American space agency, he received the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award the agency confers. George serves as co-Chair of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Space Technologies. He is a member of Caltech's Space Innovation Council, Vice Chair of Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Director on the Antelope Valley Board of Trade and Princeton University's Advisory Council for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He is a fellow of the UK Royal Aeronautical Society and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. An honors graduate of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, George later earned a master's degree in geographic information systems and remote sensing from the University of Cambridge, and a Fulbright Scholarship to Tunisia. George is a licensed private pilot and certified parabolic flight coach.