julie pollitt

In January of 1981, while a senior at high school, Julie was in a car accident that left her a complete T8 paraplegic. Prior to her accident, Julie was determined to be an astronaut and to work for NASA. On that day, the dream to be an astronaut was dashed, but not the ability to contribute by working for NASA. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1988 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and was then hired at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View. While working for NASA, she completed her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. 

In 2013, Julie ended her 25-year career at NASA with an early retirement in order to pursue other interests. During her tenure, she fulfilled diverse roles such as technical project and program management, including the deputy program manager for the nation’s largest aeronautics research program, NASA’s Deputy Budget Director where she prepared the annual budget request to the White House and Congress, and as a member of the NASA Administrator’s Strategy Team, advising on the future directions for NASA programs.  She worked at both NASA-Ames and NASA’s headquarters in Washington, DC, the latter after being awarded a Science & Technology Policy fellowship in 2001, where she spent a year as congressional staff in the U.S. House of Representatives, writing laws on military aerospace issues.

With retirement, she decided to return to the California sunshine, to pursue her interest in wine-making, and to attend enology programs at U.C. Davis and Las Positas Community College.  Once returned, Julie tied into the support system at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) and realized that she may have valuable knowledge to share with newly spinal cord injured patients. Through SCVMC, Julie was introduced to the founders of NorCal SCI and realized that this relationship could further extend the reach of “giving back.” 

“I look forward to serving on the Board of NorCal SCI and to supporting the organization’s important mission to serve the SCI Community in Northern California,” says Julie.