Donald James began his 35-year NASA career at the Goddard Space Flight  Center in Maryland as a Presidential Management Intern.  In 1984, he  transferred to NASA’s Ames Research Center in Northern California,  serving in various positions of increasing responsibility in Public  Affairs, Government Relations, and Education.  During his career, James co-led the 1997 Ames’ open house, attracting a  record-breaking quarter-million visitors; served as Ames’ Education  Director from 1999 to 2006; developed the first project plan for NASA’s  Orion spacecraft in 2006 at the Johnson Space Center; and led NASA’s bid  to host the International Space University’s 2009 Summer Program.    James entered the Senior Executive Service in 2014.  In July 2014, NASA  Administrator Charles Bolden selected James as Associate Administrator  for Education, where he led an Agency-wide effort to leverage NASA’s  unique capabilities to advance high quality STEM Education, through the  National Space Grant Program, the Experimental Program to Stimulate  Competitive Research, the Minority University Research and Education  Program, and the STEM Education and Accountability Program.  James  retired in March 2017.   James is the author of “Manners Will Take You Where Brains and Money  Won’t:  Lessons from 35 years at NASA and Momma’s Wisdom”.  The book  merges lessons he learned while at NASA with the timeless wisdom from  his mother to help students and early-career professionals navigate  their future.