William Adkins
Principal Deputy Director, NRO
Mr. William B. Adkins was appointed Principal Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office (PDDNRO), on 12 January 2026. In this role he provides overall day-to-day management of the NRO, with decision responsibility as delegated by the Director, NRO.
Prior to being appointed as the Principal Deputy Director, Mr. Adkins served on the professional staff of the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense, where he led the subcommittee’s oversight and legislative responsibility for the NRO, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Space Command, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and U.S. Cyber Command.
From 2006 to 2016, he worked in the private sector as a strategic advisor to aerospace and defense clients on strategy, policy, and business development in the space and defense sector.
From 2000 to 2006, he served on the House Science Committee and was appointed Staff Director for the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee where he led the subcommittee’s legislative and oversight activities of NASA and other agencies involved in civilian space.
From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Adkins worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and was assigned to the NRO in the Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate, where he managed several technology development projects.
Mr. Adkins began his career in 1986 at the Naval Research Laboratory, where he was trained as a spacecraft systems engineer through hands-on work designing, developing, and testing spacecraft. While on assignment to the NRO, he served as a spacecraft engineer and launch vehicle integration manager supporting studies and acquisition of an operational SIGINT program.
Born in Washington, D.C., Mr. Adkins earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from George Washington University and has done graduate coursework in engineering, political science, and policy at George Washington University, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University.