Iris Lan, former associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice, has been appointed general counsel at NASA.
She succeeds Sumara Thompson-King, who has held the role since 2014 and retired from the agency in December 2022 after 36 years of service, NASA said Monday.
In her previous role at DOJ, Lan was responsible for the nation’s 93 U.S. attorneys and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.
Lan started her career at DOJ as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, where she prosecuted cases related to export control, cyber intrusion, counterterrorism, counterintelligence and corporate fraud.
She then became deputy chief of the appellate section and supervised attorneys in briefing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Lan is an elected member of the American Law Institute.
“Our team of attorneys, paralegals, and professionals are critical to NASA fulfilling our mission to explore the unknown in air and space, innovate for the benefit of humanity, and inspire the world through discovery. With Iris at the helm, I am confident they will continue to help NASA maintain our standing as the world’s premier space agency,” said Bill Nelson, administrator of NASA.
