Akhil Rao, Ph.D. NASAActing Agency chief economist for NASA Biography Dr. Akhil Rao is the acting agency chief economist for NASA, effective January 1, 2025. He serves as principal advisor to NASA鈥檚 administrator on matters relating to markets, the space economy and NASA鈥檚 role in the U.S. economy. Rao is responsible for guiding cross-agency economic planning and market assessment efforts and integrating economic analyses relating to partnering, mission architecture design, budget planning, program implementation and review and procurement. Rao comes to NASA on leave from his role as assistant professor of Economics at Middlebury College, where he taught statistics, environmental economics and space economics. His primary research interests are in the economics of orbit use and the space industrial base. Rao received his doctorate in economics from the University of Colorado Boulder, and his bachelor of science in business administration from the University of California, Riverside.