Gioia Rau

Gioia Rau is an internationally recognized leader in space science. With experience across philanthropy, government, and academia, she operates at the systems level. Currently Fellow at Renaissance Philanthropy, she leads the development of its Space Science portfolio, building catalytic philanthropic initiatives across the field. Previously, at Schmidt Futures (then Schmidt Sciences), she built and co-led the Virtual Institute of Astrophysics. Earlier, as a Program Director at the U.S. NSF (on IPA rotation) she oversaw ~$100 million in federal investments; formerly at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, she led large interdisciplinary teams for space missions and research. A keynote speaker and author of more than 150 publications, including in Nature, she writes and speaks on space as strategic infrastructure.