Matthew Daniels

Dr. Matthew Daniels is currently serving at the White House. His work focuses on U.S. space programs and technology strategy.

Previously he was the DoD's inaugural Technical Director for AI in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, overseeing the DoD's broad artificial intelligence R&D portfolio. He has also served as Advisor to the Director of Net Assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, focusing on strategy for U.S. space programs, and a member of the strategy and plans team for the NASA Administrator, focusing on deep space exploration and development. He is the only person to have served simultaneously at Net Assessment and NASA. Outside of the U.S. Government, Matt has been a research affiliate at MIT and Stanford, space technology advisor to MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, a senior fellow at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, and continues to teach on space security and exploration at Georgetown.

Earlier Matt was a research engineer at NASA, with work in spacecraft design, stochastic control, and new science missions. He has served as part of NASA Ames delegations to build new technology projects with U.S. allies and partners in Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Matt received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in engineering from Stanford, a B.A. in physics from Cornell, was a Fellow at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, and is a recipient of the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.