GWYNNE SHOTWELL

President, Chief Operating Officer

Space Exploration Technologies Inc.

Gwynne Shotwell heads SpaceX, a corporation that designs, manufactures and launches advanced spacecraft and rockets for government and commercial customers. SpaceX, founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, has three vehicles and more than 100 launches contracted. It employs more than 6,000. Shotwell joined SpaceX in 2002 as vice president of business development and employee No. 7. She began her career in 1988 at the El Segundo Research Center of Aerospace Corp., where she worked in military space research and development, specifically in thermal analysis. She then went to work for rocket-builder Microcosm, where she was director of the space systems division. Shotwell earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics from Northwestern University.