Beth Schmid
Headquarters, Washington, DC                    March 1, 1999
(Phone:  202/358-1600)

RELEASE:  99-20

NASA ADMINISTRATOR APPOINTS DANIEL C. TAM
SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR COMMERCIALIZATION

     NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin has appointed Daniel C.
Tam to be Assistant to the Administrator for Commercialization,
effective Feb. 28.  Tam will be a NASA Headquarters employee based
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.

     In his new position, Tam will be charged with aggressively
seeking opportunities to increase commercialization of NASA
infrastructure, operations and technology.  He will also be
reaching out to the broader public sectors, including industry,
academia and other government organizations, to accelerate the
deployment of NASA-developed technologies in the U.S. economy
beyond the aerospace sector.

     "Dan Tam brings a unique blend of government and commercial
experience to this challenging position," said Goldin.  "He has
applied his engineering and business expertise to solve both
agency and industry problems.  More importantly, he knows what it
takes to make a business successful and how to get something done
in a government agency.  He will be a strong advocate for
commercial approaches and commercial outcomes at NASA and will
help grow America's commercial space business.  I am pleased he
has agreed to return to NASA to help focus the Agency's energies
on this important task."

     Tam most recently has been the Director of Planning and
Investments for TRW's Space and Electronics Group.  He has managed
strategic and operations planning as well as the resource
management of this $2 billion high-tech company.  In more than 20
years with TRW, Tam has also held management positions for
contracts, acquisitions and finance and supported many of its
complex national security and civilian space systems.

     Before rejoining TRW, Tam was NASA's deputy project manager
for the International Space Station from 1994 to 1997.  In that
position, he was responsible for the business and financial
requirements of the program, including information systems and
cost and schedule control.

     Tam earned bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering and
economics from the University of California-Davis in 1972.  He
received his master's degree in economics from the University of
California-Davis in 1973 and a master of business administration
degree from UCLA in 1975.

                               -end-

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