An alumnus was named acting director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Thursday, according to a NASA release.

George Morrow, who received his master’s degree in engineering administration from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, replaced Chris Scolese, who is departing NASA to head the National Reconnaissance Office, the release states. Morrow has worked at Goddard since 1983 and served as Goddard’s deputy center director since April 2015.

Morrow received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia, according to the release. He began his career at Goddard almost 40 years ago as the center’s lead spacecraft battery systems engineer, the release states.

The center, which is located in Greenbelt, Maryland, is “home to the nation’s largest organization of scientists, engineers and technologists who build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study Earth, the Sun, our solar system and the universe,” according to the NASA release.