Jenny Gruber (ENG’99,’99)

Lead, Inventory and Stowage Officer Group Operations Division, NASA Johnson Space Center

Jenny Gruber was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She graduated from Boston University (ENG’99) with a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering, and in 2002, earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Science from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

Jenny joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as a cooperative education student in the fall of 1996, and as a full-time employee in the fall of 2002. She spent nine years in the Flight Design and Dynamics Division of the Flight Operations Directorate. She was a Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) in Space Shuttle Mission Control, and she served as a liaison between Mission Control and United States Strategic Command and as a liaison between Mission Control and scientists with Langley Research Center’s Hypersonic Thermodynamic Infrared Measurements Project. In May of 2012, Jenny moved to the Flight Planning Branch of the Operations Division to become the Lead of the Mission Planning Software Group. In June 2014, she joined the Vehicle Integration and Daily Operations Branch as Lead of the Inventory and Stowage Officers (ISO) in ISS Mission Control. ISOs are responsible for stowage and disposal on ISS, as well as cargo transfer operations for spacecraft visiting the ISS.

Jenny is married to Ron Sostaric, who works in the Engineering Directorate at Johnson Space Center, on Entry, Descent, and Landing for Advanced Projects. They have a son, Markus, who was born in Ethiopia, so their family is Ethiopian-American, and they celebrate that heritage.

In her spare time, Jenny enjoys long-distance running, serving as an Elder and Sunday school teacher at Clear Lake Presbyterian, travel, camping and other outdoor activities, reading, mentoring young people, and learning about Ethiopian history, language, and culture.