Dr. Michelle Parker

Vice President and Chief Engineer, Boeing Defense, Space & Security

Dr. Michelle Parker is vice president and chief engineer for Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS). She leads engineering design and execution for the BDS product portfolio, with responsibility for technical integrity, safety, and compliance.

Dr. Parker’s experience leading high-profile space programs spans several decades, with more than 25 years serving in roles of increasing responsibility within Boeing. Prior to her current role, she was vice president for the Space Mission Systems business, where she led strategic direction, program execution, and profit and loss for a portfolio that includes government and commercial satellites, space systems architecture, national security space programs, and ground systems, as well as subsidiaries Millennium Space Systems, Spectrolab, and Boeing Intelligence and Analytics. She has also served as vice president and deputy general manager for the Space & Launch division, where she oversaw the successful Operational Flight Test-2 of the CST-100 Starliner and delivery of the Boeing-built Space Launch System that powered NASA’s Artemis I mission. Before that, she was the Space & Launch chief engineer, providing technical leadership for the Space & Launch portfolio. Earlier in her career, she led the Satellite Development Center (SDC), the world’s largest satellite manufacturing facility that has produced more than 300 satellites to date.

Throughout her career, Dr. Parker has held leadership, engineering, strategy and execution roles for organizations across Boeing, including: BDS Engineering’s System Engineering, Integration and Test (SEIT); Director of Enterprise Technology Strategy over the areas of aerodynamics, propulsion, guidance, navigation and control, and computational science; Director or Flight and Vehicle Technology for Boeing Research and Technology (BR&T), and Deputy Director of National Space Communications Programs (NSCP). She began her career in the Thermophysics Department of Boeing Satellite Systems.

Dr. Parker is a trustee of the California Science Center, a board member of the California Chamber of Commerce, a board member of the Space Foundation, and serves on the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering Advisory Board, and Lehigh University’s Engineering Dean’s Council.

Dr. Parker earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, as well as a master’s degree and a doctorate in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics from the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctorate was earned as a Howard Hughes Doctoral Fellow while at Boeing. She is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s general management program.