Zachary G. Pirtle

Biography

Biography 

Zachary Gallagher Pirtle is the Deputy Director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University and a Professor of Practice in the Rob Walton College of Global Futures. This role began on May 4th 2026. Previously he was a civil servant, engineer and policy entrepreneur at NASA Headquarters from 2010 to 2026.  

Research: Pirtle’s research contributions have ranged from developing a framework for assessing independence among multiple models to help mitigate uncertainty (Pirtle et al, 2018, Pirtle et al 2010), exploring the difference between scientific and engineering models (Pirtle 2010) as well as studying  the nature of engineering knowledge and the relationship between law- and non-law-based epistemologies and perceived views on engineering and innovation policy (Pirtle 2013, Stacey, Eckert, Pirtle et al 2025). Separately, he has also researched what role of democratically determined values should have in engineering, including efforts to use public input in engineering decisions (Pirtle and Szajnfarber 2017, Pirtle and Tomblin 2017, Bertrand et al 2017). His publications are on google scholar.  

Education: He earned his Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from George Washington University, working with Zoe Szajnfarber, and had the philosopher of science Jay Odenbaugh as a committee member. Pirtle earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, B.A. in Philosophy, and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Arizona State University. While at ASU he did research with the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes. Previously, he studied in Mexico as a Fulbright Scholar (2008); and served as a Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Engineering (2009). 

Engineering for Lunar Discovery and Exploration: Pirtle worked at NASA from 2010 to 2026, with his final role being an engineer and program executive at NASA Headquarters in the Science Mission Directorate’s Exploration Science Strategy Integration Office (ESSIO). He led non-traditional commercial approaches to get science and technology payloads to the moon. He previously served as a program integration engineer in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. His work there supported integration for the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft and associated ground systems. He also served NASA’s Strategic Investments Division, providing technical, strategic and policy guidance for NASA’s exploration programs, and performed major programmatic assessments of the James Webb Space Telescope and Space Launch System. He was a 2020 winner of the NASA Agency Early Career Achievement Medal. 

Space Policy and Societal Outcomes: Pirtle previously led major policy initiatives in the space sector. From June 2022 to December 2024, he served as a part-time detailee to the NASA Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy, for a project on the ethical and societal implications of NASA’s Artemis efforts. He was the study lead and first author for a report, Artemis, Ethics and Society: Synthesis from a Workshop, which was released September 23rd, 2023, and is described here. NASA interviewed him about the effort on the Small Steps, Giant Leaps podcast, linked here. For this work, Pirtle received a 2024 NASA Excellence in Innovation award, as well as a 2025 Group Achievement award to the Ethical, Legal and Societal Implications Team. 

Conceptual Foundations of Engineering: He is the co-chair of the steering committee for the Forum on Philosophy, Engineering and Technology (fPET), which has a mission to bring together philosophy and engineering for the mutual benefit of both. 

Science fiction and policy: His interests also touch on science fiction and how it can help us better deliberate on what future we want with engineering and technology. This led to a paper on the ethics of technology in Dune as well as a co-authored paper with the science fiction author Malka Older, focusing on how the novel Infomocracy can help us explore our desired policy futures. In 2025, he published Neal Stephenson’s novel Anathem, which discusses scientist monks as a metaphor for how science and society should relate. 

Career advice: Zach was once interviewed by David Storey for the Wisdom at Work podcast, which profiles philosophers outside of academia. That conversation can be found here, and a transcript here. He also contributed to this guide on how to get science policy jobs. 

Dr. Pirtle can also be found on LinkedIn and on twitter.