NASA SMD Heliophysics Director Terminated (Update)
Keith’s note: David Chenette has been terminated as Heliophysics Director at NASA SMD. His termination is effective COB 20 June 2014. Chenette has been placed on paid administrative leave until that time. Chenette was escorted out of NASA HQ building last week by security personnel.
NASA SMD Internal Memo: Interim Heliophysics Director
“Dr. Jeffrey Newmark will be interim Director for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Heliophysics Division as of June 6, 2014.”
NASA Heliophysics Director Fired
“You have demonstrated little effort to engage your personnel and provide an inclusive workplace that fosters development to their full potential, despite being instructed that this was your primary objective when you were selected for this position,” Grunsfeld, said in the notice, adding that the former Lockheed Martin executive had sown “confusion and apprehension in the scientific community.”
Sounds juicy. Dish the dirt ASAP.
Not sure how long Chenette’s biography will be up at science.nasa.gov, but, for now, you can read it here: http://science.nasa.gov/abo…. Seems like a competent guy. I wonder what happened.
At a minimum, it seems clear he had repeated run-ins with an ethnic minority female scientist. Not usually a good predictor of career longevity in government service for white men.
So your allegation is that he was terminated because the coworker with which he might have had issues was, in your words, an “ethnic minority female” and because he was “white”. Wow. That sounds like bigoted assumption. Do you have evidence that is the reason, or are you just assuming as much from the very little information in the SpaceNews.com article?
Bigotry is a state of mind that results in one person treating another with fear, hate, or distrust based on his/her ethnic or personal characteristics. This is a different situation, interpersonal friction compounded by an organizational goal of cultural diversity.
No kiddng? Thanks for the lesson.
Now go back and read how duheagle made a point of mentioning the “ethnic minority female scientist” and what’s not good for “white men.” Bigotry.
I posted a response to your comment yesterday, but it seems to have been moderated away. Perhaps this one will be too. Here goes anyway.
I don’t believe it is bigoted to note the general PC-based presumption in favor of members of protected classes when disputes arise in the various halls of government service.
You assume with no evidence whatsoever. That’s a hallmark of bigotry. Yeah, the poor white man.
Duheagle is suggesting that policies implemented in federal agencies as a response to perceived past discrimination may result in management actions that are unfairly influenced by the race or ethnicity of the persons involved. This assertion may or may not be correct, but it is not bigotry.
SpaceNews has the full story, and oh my ..get the popcorn.
If Chenette has just become a scapegoat for problems that preceeded him I hope he is exhonerated. Too bad we have to have these side shows every so often.
We don’t have to, but we do anyway.
If you work at NASA you get to see them all the time.
There was really a security escort? That sounds more serious than general incompetence.
Civil servants are seldom fired, but when they are it’s fairly common to take their badge without warning and immediately escort them off the center. The rationale is that if an employee is told he is being fired, it is assumed that he might immediately destroy government property out of spite. That tells you something about the people who make these rules. If the organization were really composed of people that unprofessional, petty and spiteful it wouldn’t function.
Well, NASA mostly doesn’t function so what does that tell you?
The rationale is that if an employee is told he is being fired, it is
assumed that he might immediately destroy government property out of
spite.
Yes. Imagine all the staplers and hole punches that could be vandalized in that long walk to the door.
What this really means is that the fired employee might delete his computer files and no one else will ever be able to figure them out again. This might make it impossible to justify the firing, if it ever comes up in court.
What this really means is that the fired employee might delete his
computer files and no one else will ever be able to figure them out
again.This might make it impossible to justify the firing, if it ever
comes up in court
A competent manager would gather and review the relevant evidence with HR BEFORE someone is terminated, not AFTER.
It should not be that difficult, even for NASA, to coordinate with computer security to lock their account a few minutes before they are terminated.
A competent manager would not have to terminate capable personnel because he/she would keep the members of his/her organization working together as a team, placing their highest priority on accomplishing important science and creating valuable technology for the taxpayers of the nation rather than on advancing their own careers.
I’ve seen multiple RIFs where security escorts are the norm.
Sounds like the pot didn’t like the kettle.
This is what sometimes happens when people from long time outside industry positions go on to join NASA.
At NASA, in order to “get along” you must “go along” with the established order.
No one at NASA or NASA’s contractors want waves in their little pools and those who join NASA and try to make a difference usually piss people off and in true NASA form it is easier to make the whole thing go away instead of trying to find the root cause of the problems.
Yep – but that is not unique to NASA. Any large organization with bureaucratic tendencies and career climbing environment will develop these traits sooner or later.
Chenette was from the University of Chicago. That’s a top school, and apparently he did well.
“provide an inclusive workplace that fosters development to their full potential, despite being instructed that THIS was your primary objective when you were selected for this position,”
“inclusive workplace”? Silly me, I thought the primary objective was to understand solar physics. What is the hidden subtext here? Well, it isn’t even hidden.
“took a lackadaisical approach to a volunteer-led effort to restart an old NASA heliophysics mission, the International Sun/Earth Explorer-3” !
“lackadaisical”??? Keith? Any insights here? I hope all the sordid details make their way out. This is strange to say the least. I was beginning to think politics was confined to human spaceflight.
I predict no comments from Keith.
Someone from the outside is apt to see lots of dysfunction that long time NASA HQ folks don’t notice anymore. And pointing it out, trying to do things differently, to make a difference, is always a risky career move for those individuals. Dr. Alan Stern also had trouble exercising his will on the system.
The SpaceNews.com article provides good detail, especially from the viewpoint of the Manager. I am surprised that they let him go after fewer than 12 months on the job. If organizational and mission success is the criteria then I would think there would be a lot more management hitting the pavement.
All new SES appointments are probationary. The supervisor has 53 weeks of observing the appointee’s performance, and at the end of that time make the appointment “permanent,” or at any time before then, terminate the appointment. For the record, this is the second Heliophysics Director in the last couple of years to be terminated before their appointment became permanent.
Space News – “Grunsfeld charged that Chenette bungled planning for the $800 million Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission”
Seriously? At the point last September when he came on board, MMS was about 75% complete in both design and build, he would have had little if any input on the direction of the project. That does sound seriously bogus to me
Actually, there was a proposal to coordinate MMS and THEMIS science that would have increased marching army costs by many $10M’s.
Key words: “Primary objective…provide an inclusive workplace…” Not “Promote scientific discovery” or “Advance scientific understanding of the Sun.” A sad eulogy to a once-great Agency.
“… to engage your personnel and provide an inclusive workplace that
fosters development to their full potential,…”
What does this mean?? How does one objectively measure it??
One can’t. There are more than sufficient signals untranslatable from the original bureaucratese into English to inform the reader that the disposal of Dr Chenette had less to do with valid science or competent management than with the honouring of officially- but informally-designated sacred cows. NASA top management seem determined to provide an example of Lee Kuan Yew’s excuse for obscenely highly-paid politicians, “pay peanuts, get monkeys”.
Everybody deserves better.
the disposal of Dr Chenette had less to do with valid science or competent management than with the honouring of officially- but informally-designated sacred cows.
Bingo!
I worked with Dr. Chenette for many years at Lockheed. I found him to be an honest and inspirational leader. Our team successfully designed and built several space science instruments, all of which exceeded the expected mission life and performed admirably. Dave is a man of integrity and intelligence who, unlike some scientists, did not hesitate to roll up his sleeves and help out in the lab. If he has a fault, it is that he is too honest for some, and refuses to play politics. If he says this action on NASA’s part is politically motivated rather than an attempt to fix the problem, then I believe him.
Just my 2 cents…
Having spent almost all of my working years in government or non-profit agencies, I have seen things like this happen more times than you would think…it’s nothing new. I will say that someone can be highly qualified to fill a management position. However, it does not mean that person is the right fit for that position.
I will say that someone can be highly qualified to fill a management
position. However, it does not mean that person is the right fit for
that position.
Probably the most important hidden qualification for a position in NASA management is a willingness to endure chapped lips from kissing the butts of those above you.
Agree.
This development is beyond my comprehension. I worked closely with Dr Chenette for years at Lockheed and continued to watch his career progress for long afterward. There was no other person at Lockheed, at any level, that I admired as much. He could do it all – the science, the engineering, the program management, the executive leadership. When projects began to falter or slip schedule, he was the one that Lockheed management brought in to right the ship and get things working again. He brought the Lockheed instruments for UARS in on time. He rescued the ISTP/Solar/PIXIE instrument from a train wreck, became the new principal investigator, and led its scientific analysis for years. He could maintain his objectivity and composure throughout the firefights that erupt routinely over the lifetime of NASA and Air Force projects. But there are some fools that not even Dr Chenette can suffer gladly. And when the options are to do the right thing, or do the politically expedient thing, he’ll do the right thing.