Paul Hill

Paul Sean Hill is leadership evangelist -- a public speaker and executive consultant focusing on universal leadership challenges like risk management, critical thinking, and leading change. His passion is showing how any organization can leverage the core ideas and leadership values from Mission Control whether the goal is to strengthen working level decision making and leadership, actively steward a leadership culture, or deliberately engage executives in strategic decision making and change.

Paul was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Director of Mission Operations from 2007 through 2014. He was responsible for all aspects of NASA’s manned spaceflight mission planning, flight controller and astronaut training, and Mission Control. Paul is credited with revolutionizing the leadership culture, dramatically reducing costs, and increasing capability, all while still conducting missions in space.

Before this, Paul held a number of senior leadership positions including Deputy Manager of the Extravehicular Activity Office, Manager of Shuttle Operations, and Deputy Director of Mission Operations. He also served as a Space Shuttle and International Space Station Flight Director from 1996 through 2005, leading the flight control team in flight preparation and execution from Mission Control. He supported 24 missions as a Flight Director with his final assignment as the Lead Shuttle Flight Director for the return-to-flight on STS-114.