Gregory L. Robinson

Gregory L. Robinson is an American engineer and the former director of the James Webb Space Telescope Program at NASA.

Early life Robinson was the 9th of 11 children born to tobacco sharecroppers in rural Virginia. He attended a segregated elementary school until 1970, then attended Dan River High School, where he graduated in 1978.

Education Robinson received a full-ride football scholarship to Virginia Union University, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Robinson also has an MBA from Averett College. He has also taught in the George Washington University Department of Engineering Management & Systems Engineering.

For his role in improving the performance of the Webb program, Robinson's supervisor, Thomas Zurbuchen, called him "the most effective leader of a mission I have ever seen in the history of NASA." Zurbuchen credited Robinson with raising the program's schedule efficiency (how many measures were completed on time) from 50% to 95%.

Since 2020, Robinson has taught at Columbia University.

Awards Robinson received many awards and accolades for his work as the director of the James Webb Space Telescope Program including:

2013: NASA Presidential Rank Distinguished Executive Award 2022: Federal Employee of the Year (Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals) 2022: Time 100 Most Influential People of 2022 2022: Time 2022 Innovator of the Year 2022: NASA Presidential Rank Distinguished Executive Award 2025: Honorary Doctor of Science from Rochester Institute of Technology

Personal life Robinson and his wife, Cynthia, have three daughters and several grandchildren.