Dr. Roger Mason
Director of the NRO (DNRO)
Dr. Roger Mason was sworn in as the 20th Director, National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on 17 August 2026. In this capacity, Dr. Mason provides direction, guidance, and oversight on all matters pertaining to the NRO and executes other authorities specifically delegated by the Secretary of War and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Prior to this role, Dr. Mason held several senior executive positions in the aerospace and defense industry. Most recently, he served as Chief Growth Officer of V2X, a global defense and intelligence company with over 16,000 employees, where he was responsible for the company's strategy, growth operations, technology development, marketing, communications, public affairs, and competitive intelligence. Previously, he served as President of Peraton's Space and Intelligence sector, an organization of 4,500 employees focused on delivering advanced manufacturing products, integrated mission solutions, and technology services on a global scale across all phases of space-based national security missions for major intelligence and defense agencies.
Dr. Mason held leadership positions at General Dynamics, the Institute for Defense Analyses, Noblis and Parsons Corporation, with a focus on national security and intelligence. He began his career developing remote collection devices and integrating them into a worldwide system for national security missions.
Dr. Mason previously served on multiple boards with public companies and several nonprofit organizations, including the Intelligence Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance and the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, where he was the Chairman. He has also been a member of numerous independent reviews and studies for top IC leaders and Congress in the areas of overhead reconnaissance, space protection, advanced satellite payload technology and anomaly investigations.
Dr. Mason earned a Ph.D. in engineering physics from the University of Virginia, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a B.S. in physics from the George Washington University.