John Logsdon is the founder and from 1987 to 2008 was the Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. In 2003, Logsdon was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He is a former member of the NASA Advisory Council. He is frequently cited as an authority on space policy and history by press entities such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, and has appeared on various television networks. Logsdon holds a B.S. in physics from Xavier University (1960) and a Ph.D. in political science from New York University (1970).