Stephen (Steve) Shinn is vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) at The Aerospace Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for providing leadership for Aerospace’s financial and business processes, including accounting, finance, and treasury operations. Shinn manages the corporation’s ongoing business transformation to modernize business functions and financial tools, optimizing Aerospace’s ability to effectively deliver on government and commercial customers’ critical missions.
Previously, Shinn served as acting CFO at NASA, where he ensured the financial health of the agency and oversaw all financial management, budget, strategic planning, and performance activities related to NASA’s programs and operations. Simultaneously, he also held the title of deputy CFO at NASA, where he led strategic planning, performance reporting, budget analysis, justification, control, and reporting of all fiscal resources relating to NASA’s programs and operations across a $25 billion-plus annual portfolio and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of more than 1,600 personnel within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Prior to that, Shinn held several increasingly responsible roles over the course of his 15-year career at NASA, including CFO at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and deputy director for planning and business management at GSFC’s Flight Projects Directorate. Before that, Shinn was the group manager of the Space Operations and Management Group at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he was responsible for all business and project control functions and annual business planning.
Prior to his federal government service, Shinn worked in both nonprofit and for-profit industry organizations, leading major initiatives for civilian and Department of Defense programs in various management positions including mission budget formulation, lifecycle pricing, cost management, parametric modeling, accounting, project planning and control, financial management, operations management, software management, earned value management, scheduling, and capital budgeting. Shinn’s career began at Computer Sciences Corporation, where he held various positions of increasing authority.
A published author with more than 25 academic papers, Shinn is also an award-winning instructor of various project management, project planning and control, and finance courses at Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering.
Education
Shinn earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from The College of New Jersey and a master’s degree in technical management from Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering.
Awards and Honors
Shinn has received the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award for Executive Leaders; NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal (three times); the Robert H. Goddard Exceptional Achievement for Leadership Award; NASA’s Cost Estimating Leadership Award; three team awards for Quality and Process Improvement; NASA’s Silver Achievement Medal; the Robert H. Goddard Exceptional Achievement Team Award; and the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering Excellence in Teaching Award.
Affiliations
Shinn is also a Project Management Institute-certified Project Management Professional and has served as session organizer for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ aerospace conference since 2010.