A physicist and engineer, Griffin, born in 1949, has held a number of positions in academia, government, and private industry.
A certified flight instructor, Griffin holds seven academic degrees, beginning with a bachelor's in physics from Johns Hopkins in 1971 and including a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland and a master's degree in business administration from Loyola College.
He spent 13 years as a professor, teaching science and engineering courses at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins, and George Washington University. He has been lead author on more than two dozen technical papers and the textbook "Space Vehicle Design."
His early career included stints as both chief engineer and associate administrator for exploration at NASA. He was also deputy for technology at the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, a precursor of the Missile Defense Agency.
His private-sector executive positions include president and chief operating officer at In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit private-equity firm that invests in support of US intelligence agencies, and executive vice president and chief technical officer at Orbital Sciences Corporation, which developed space and rocket systems for government and commercial clients. (Orbital merged with another firm to become Orbital ATK.)
In the early 2000s, Griffin was head of the space department at Johns Hopkins' applied physics laboratory. In 2005, however, he rejoined NASA as administrator, holding that job until 2009. After spending time as a scholar and professor at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, he was chairman and CEO of Schafer Corporation from 2012 to May 2017.
Schafer provides technology services for the aerospace and national-security sectors. Its customers have included the Homeland Security Department; the Navy, Army, and Air Force; the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Energy, and NASA.
He was confirmed by the Senate in February 2018 as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, acting as the Defense Department's chief technology officer.