Bachelor of science in earth sciences from University of California, Santa Cruz, 1973; Ph.D. in geology from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1978, Canada; was assigned for STS-61J (mission cancelled after the Challenger disaster); hobbies: Flying, squash, bicycling, backpacking, reading; in June 1992 Chief Research Scientist of National Oceanographic and Athmospheric Administration; since 1996 President and Chief Executive Officer des Columbus Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio; retired in 2005 but will continue working as Scientific Adviser. Sullivan is also an oceanography officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve, holding the rank of Captain; in May 2006 elected as vice chair of the National Science Board (NSB). Her tenure as Director of NOAA ended on January 20, 2017, with the swearing in of President Donald Trump. She then became the 2017 Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.