Diane Howard

Diane Howard has devoted her space career to public service through both pedagogy and policy development. She most recently served as director of commercial space policy at the National Space Council in the Executive Office of the President, advising and assisting the president on the development and implementation of space policy and strategy. Previously, Howard served as chief counsel for space commerce in the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of the General Counsel. 

Currently, Howard is consulting and teaching. She is an experienced attorney in the space sector, skilled in space law, legal writing, international relations, and corporate law, with deep experience in academia. She has spearheaded interdisciplinary programs incorporating space law and policy and the role of technology at the University of Texas at Austin’s Strauss Center for International and Security Studies as well as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where she taught full time prior to her work in government. Diane teaches at UT Austin and McGill University’s Institute of Air & Space Law. She is a senior strategy advisor at The MITRE Corporation.

Howard is a proud member of the International Institute of Space Law, the International Academy of Astronautics, the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety, Florida Lawyers Network Global, Mensa, and the Explorers Club. She walks the Camino in Europe whenever her schedule permits.