Mr. Petersen serves as NASA’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer for Finance. In this role, he oversees the Quality Assurance and Financial Management Divisions. He is responsible for financial management, execution, quality assurance, internal controls, enterprise risk management, and reporting of all agency accounting and financial resources.

Before his current position, Mr. Petersen was the Director of the Quality Assurance Division. He led NASA’s Enterprise Risk Management program, which includes the execution, identification, and implementation of the Unified Comprehensive Operational Risk Network (UNICORN). He developed NASA’s first-ever Agency Enterprise Risk Profile and ensured that sound financial management practices were followed, with effective internal controls over financial activities. Mr. Petersen was instrumental in NASA earning an unmodified (clean) opinion for 11 consecutive years.

Before joining NASA, Mr. Petersen was the Director of the A-123 Appendix A implementation at the U.S. Department of Education. He also worked in the private sector for over twenty years at several certified public accounting and management consulting firms. Mr. Petersen is a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) and holds a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting.