Biography

Thomas H. Zurbuchen is a Swiss-American astrophysicist, innovation leader, and former senior executive at NASA who played a defining role in shaping modern space science. Born in Switzerland in 1968, he pursued physics at the University of Bern, earning his Ph.D. in experimental astrophysics in 1996, before moving to the United States to build a distinguished academic and research career.

Prior to joining NASA, Zurbuchen was a professor of space science and aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, where he also founded the Michigan Center for Entrepreneurship—one of the most influential university-based entrepreneurship programs in the United States. His academic work focused on solar and heliospheric physics, space systems, and experimental space research, alongside a strong emphasis on innovation and commercialization.

From 2016 to 2022, Zurbuchen served as Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, becoming the longest-serving head of science in the agency’s history. In this role, he oversaw a portfolio of roughly $7–8 billion annually and was responsible for more than 90 missions, including landmark efforts such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, the Parker Solar Probe, and the DART planetary defense mission.

Widely known as “Dr. Z,” he became a prominent public voice for science, advocating for risk-taking, innovation, and the integration of entrepreneurship into government-led research. His leadership style emphasized speed, accountability, and the acceptance of failure as part of breakthrough discovery.

Since leaving NASA, Zurbuchen has continued to shape the global space ecosystem as a professor and leader of space initiatives at ETH Zürich, as well as an international speaker and advisor on innovation, leadership, and the future of space exploration.