Advisory Board

The Center for the Study of Space Crime, Piracy, and Governance has the honor of working with a team of renowned experts in the fields of space, technology, and international relations. Our Advisory Board meets three times a year to help The Center refine its research agenda and update its strategy based on world events and their impact on space.

Patrick Lin, Phd

Patrick Lin, PhD, is the director of the Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group at Cal Poly, where he is a full philosophy professor. He currently serves on the US National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group and is also affiliated with Stanford Law School, Microsoft Research, Czech Academy of Sciences, World Economic Forum, For All Moonkind, Aurelia Institute, AIAA, and other leading orgs. Previous affiliations include the US Naval Academy, Stanford Engineering, Dartmouth College, Center for a New American Security, UNIDIR, 100 Year Study on AI, and more. He is well published in technology ethics—including on frontier development (esp. outer space and the Arctic), AI, robotics, cybersecurity, bioengineering, nanotechnology, security technologies, and more—and is regularly invited to provide briefings on the subject to industry, media, and government. Site: https://ethics.calpoly.edu/ 

Annie Pforzheimer

A retired U.S. Department of State career diplomat with the personal rank of Minister Counselor (2-star General equivalent), Annie Pforzheimer is a Senior Non-Resident Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an Adjunct Professor at Pace University and the City University of New York, and a women’s rights activist and foreign policy commentator. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and active on non-profit boards, currently serving as Board Chair for Women for Afghan Women, a social service agency in the US and Afghanistan. She is a member of the Department of Defense Board of Visitors for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, and the Leadership Circle of Foreign Policy for America.

Ms. Pforzheimer is the author of numerous articles and op-eds on Afghanistan policy, as well as the co-author of studies and articles on issues relating to international organized crime. Her thirty-year diplomatic career focused on security, rule of law, and human rights policy. She was the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Afghanistan and Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul; Office Director for UN Peacekeeping and Sanctions; head of the $700 million security assistance program in Mexico; the lead human rights officer in Turkey and South Africa; and a Director at the National Security Council implementing policy on Central American migration. Ms. Pforzheimer is a graduate of Harvard University, with a Masters in National Security Studies from the National Defense University. 

Gordon Roesler, Phd

Dr. Gordon Roesler, CEO of Robots in Space, is a nationally recognized authority in the application of robotic technologies to space missions. At the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, he created and led the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program.  He is a co-author of the multi-organization Commercial Lunar Propellant Architecture study and NASA’s In-Space Assembled Telescope study. He provides advisory services in space infrastructure and business concepts to industry, government and academia. He received the Ph.D. in Physics from MIT in 1992 and is a 1975 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.