Dawn L. Oliver serves as the acting chief counsel for NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, a role she assumed in January 2026. She is responsible for leading the Office of the General Counsel’s management and strategy, as well as providing legal advice and counsel to senior executives and top-level managers. In this capacity, Oliver is a member of both the Glenn and NASA Office of the General Counsel senior leadership teams.
Oliver began her NASA career in 2000 as an assistant chief counsel at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In that role, she provided legal guidance across general law, procurement law, non‑appropriated fund activities — including work with the NASA Kennedy Exchange and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex — served as institutional review board counsel and was the functional lead for employment law. Her responsibilities also included representing the agency in litigation before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal District Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
In 2013, Oliver transitioned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where she served as acquisition integrity counsel, institutional review board counsel, and procurement counsel. She continued to advance in roles of increasing responsibility, later serving as acting deputy chief counsel and as the lead for commercial partnerships at Johnson. In 2019, she was selected to serve as lead counsel for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Most recently, Oliver completed a fellowship in the White House Leadership Development Program in fiscal year 2024. During her detail with the Office of Federal Financial Management within the Office of Management and Budget, she worked to update government-wide guidance related to priority administration initiatives focused on improving payment integrity.
Over the course of her career, Oliver has been recognized with numerous honors, including the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, multiple Director’s Commendation Awards, and the prestigious NASA Attorney of the Year award. Her leadership development portfolio includes participation in NASA’s Mid‑Level Leader Program, the White House Leadership Development Program, and service as directorate lead counsel for both the Science Mission Directorate and the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
Oliver earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She serves as a director on the Auburn University Alumni Association Board of Directors, group leader for Bible Study Fellowship, and is a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
