Jim Maser
President, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Jim Maser is President of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) Inc. a division of Pratt & Whitney. Jim became President on December 4, 2006, and is responsible for the design, manufacturing and performance of power and propulsion systems. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is the world’s premier liquid rocket propulsion technology company, with a foundation that extends to the beginning of the U.S. space program. PWR products power the space shuttle, and have powered missions to nearly every planet in the solar system.
Prior to his current position, Maser served as President and General Manager of the Sea Launch Company, an international partnership that launches commercial communications satellites. Under his leadership, Sea Launch emerged as one of the premier heavy-lift launch services in the world, earning the company a reputation of reliability and affordability in a challenging international market.
Following Sea Launch, Maser took his launch vehicle and entrepreneurial leadership experience to Space Exploration Technologies, as President and Chief Operating Officer of the start-up firm, which was selected by NASA to demonstrate delivery and return of cargo to the International Space Station.
Maser has a strong background as an aerospace engineer with extensive experience in program management, design and engineering leadership. Beginning with the Boeing Delta and Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle programs in structural design, he became lead of advanced studies in systems integration and was one of the key architects of the evolution of Delta II to Delta IV. In 1998, Maser transitioned from Chief Engineer of Delta III to Chief Engineer of Sea Launch. Before joining McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in the 1980s, he was a research fellow at NASA/Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center.
Maser graduated magna cum laude from the University of Akron with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, followed by a master’s in Engineering. He later received a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles. In 2000, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics honored Maser with its George M. Low Space Transportation Award.