Celebrating NASA's Dan Goldin

Thank you to all regular readers. If we're not connected, be sure to follow to never miss any of the five articles about technical writing that I publish every week, Monday through Friday at 1:00 pm Eastern/10:00 am Pacific. I never miss an article drop—and neither should you!

?? Listen to the sibling podcast where hosts Daphne and Fred provide insightful analysis and additional details on Amazon Music , Apple Podcasts , iHeartRadio , and Spotify .

I remember the first time that Dan Goldin , the longest serving chief administrator at NASA, liked one of my posts on LinkedIn. Since early childhood, I have been enamored by space flight and the technology surrounding it. As such, the surprise engagement from Goldin was the highlight of my day.

Several weeks later, I noticed that Goldin had also liked a post from my podcast buddy John Bailey in Las Vegas. This is when Goldin sort of entered the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon in my life. When most people are retired and becoming less engaged with each day, Goldin—now 84—does the opposite.

His positive energy and optimistic spirit are infectious and things that he shares abundantly on social media. I instantly fell in love with his posts and blog articles and have been voraciously consuming them ever since.

Understanding Dan Goldin

Goldin, born in New York City, served as the ninth chief administrator of NASA (what a corporation would call a CEO) from April 1992 to November 2001. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush and having served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Goldin is today an entrepreneur and technologist who resides in Los Angeles.

Considering that it has been 23 years since Goldin headed up NASA, he's obviously done a lot since he departed the U.S. space agency.

I have a category of humans I call "unknowing mentors." Nearly every day, I learn something from Goldin (typically from his posts on LinkedIn). I would definitely categorize him as a mentor—just not a conventional one with whom I sit down and have coffee.

If you're an IT or marketing/sales professional and aren't currently following Goldin, give him a try. His never say die spirit and optimism are likely to snare you and make you a fan. He has forever changed my perception of the Never Give Up, Never Surrender meme from the film Galaxy Quest.

I was partially raised by my grandparents, both of whom lived through the Great Depression and World War II. They taught me self reliance, frugality, and epitomized the vibe that one gets out of a project what they put into it. In other words, hard work pays off (particularly when backed up by intelligent strategy).

Goldin reminds me of my grandparents. This has nothing to do with his age and everything to do with his core values. Goldin actually embraces difficult challenges and strife. He believes that such opposition in life helps us build character, resilience, and the ability to overcome obstacles.

What NASA Says

But enough of my fawning over Goldin. Here's what NASA has to say about him.

"During his tenure as NASA's longest-serving Administrator, Daniel S. Goldin initiated a revolution to transform America's aeronautics and space program. Despite lower budgets, his 'faster, better, cheaper' approach has enabled the Agency to deliver programs of high value to the American public without sacrificing safety.

"When Goldin became Administrator in the spring of 1992, outside observers perceived the Agency to be a bloated bureaucracy pursuing missions that were too expensive, took too long to develop, and flew too infrequently. NASA also was criticized for an imbalance between human and robotic missions.

"Through Goldin's aggressive management reforms, annual budgets have been [decreased], producing a $40 billion reduction from prior budget plans. He implemented a more balanced aeronautics and space program by reducing human space flight funding from 48 percent of NASA's total budget to 38 percent and increasing funding for science and aerospace technology from 31 to 43 percent."

John Bailey Weighs In

I reached out to John Bailey to get his opinion on Goldin. Here's what he told me.

"I first discovered Dan Goldin in the late '90s when I was in high school. He served as NASA administrator during a period when I was deeply engrossed in studying space exploration.

"Later, he reappeared on my radar with Intellisis Corp. (which became KnuEdge) and as someone fascinated by neural science and computing. I couldn't resist his work. When I started following him on LinkedIn, I realized we spoke the same language—his passion for deep tech and pushing boundaries really resonates with me.

"If you consider yourself a 'techie' of any sort and are not following Dan, you're missing out on some valuable insight from someone who has truly been at the forefront of innovation."

True Grit

I like Dan Goldin because he has this thing called grit. My grandparents used to talk about it. The 1969 film starring John Wayne, True Grit,* helped cement the importance of this term in the American vernacular. But our vocabulary is constantly changing, challenged by novel perspectives on our rapidly evolving culture. Unfortunately, grit seems to be evaporating at a shockingly fast rate.

But not if Goldin has anything to do with it. I can imagine him sitting around the campfire with Wayne's character from the film, U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, discussing how adversity is a blessing, not a curse. He and Cogburn would have gotten along, I think.

*Younger readers may better remember the 2010 reboot starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon.

Sometimes the advice I give is not easily executed (continuing education and certification being good examples). But when it comes to Dan Goldin, my guidance is simple to perform: Follow him on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).

Goldin is prolific on social media, posting multiple times per day and engaging with the tech community. He publishes a newsletter called Do the Hard Things that has attracted nearly 50,000 subscribers. If you work in tech and enjoy thought leaders who practice positivity, you'll benefit from following him. His career advice is spot on.

But that's just my opinion. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

— Curt Robbins, Senior Technical Writer

P.S.: I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.