Timothy Buzza
Tim Buzza is an American engineer, former Vice President of SpaceX, and current Vice President of Virgin Galactic. He is most notable for his influence in the early years of the commercial space industry.
Early Life
Buzza was born April 19, 1964 in Key West, Florida to Glenn and Carolanne Buzza, He was one of four children. In his first years of life, he attended Moon High School which lead him to wrestle at Pennsylvania State University.
For his undergraduate and graduate work, Tim pursued a bachelor and master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering.
Career
Tim's first job was with McDonnell Douglas. He spent the next 15 years working on aircraft (specifically MD-11 and C-17's) and the Delta IV launch Vehicle. However, after the company started to merge with Boeing, Tim began looking for new opportunities. That is when he was approached AbOUT a new startup called SpaceX. He started work of the company almost immediately.
During his 12 year career at SpaceX Tim advanced to become the Vice President of Test and Launch while leading the design, construction and operation of launch/test sites in Florida, Kwajalein, Texas, and California. He was also directly involved with the development of Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and the Dragon Spacecraft.
In 2014, Tim joined Virgin Galactic where he is the current Vice President of Program Development.