Vice President of Programs and Partnerships, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space – ISS National Lab
Christine Kretz is the vice president of programs and partnerships at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), manager of the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory. Kretz’s role is to identify opportunities for leveraging ISS facilities to enable science and technology research that will benefit life on Earth while maximizing taxpayer investment in the ISS. Kretz’s team helps interested organizations determine how best to approach research on the ISS and work through the process to accomplish their desired objectives. Prior to joining CASIS, Kretz worked for IBM, starting in 1998 as a manager in the research division, where her responsibilities included IT security for eight labs globally. From the research division, Kretz took a corporate position and was named the global operations manager for IBM Life Sciences, an emerging business area for IBM at the time. Kretz has also served as a health care solutions executive on the IBM Global Healthcare Industry Team and as a client executive and complex opportunity manager in healthcare/life sciences. Most recently, she managed the healthcare and life sciences research division for the company.
Kretz holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA in operations from Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, where she is a member of the business school’s alumni board of directors. Kretz is also a board member of the Girl Scouts Citrus Council.