Cherish K. Johnson has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) effective February 18, 2020. Ms. Johnson comes to the NRC from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where she served as Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer since 2014. In this position she led the Budget, Accounting, Property, and Congressional Divisions and the Facilities and Personnel Administrative Divisions for NOAA. Ms. Johnson began her career at NOAA as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer in 2009.

Before joining NOAA, Ms. Johnson served at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where she began her career within the Space Operations Mission Directorate supporting the Space Communications, Space Shuttle and Space Station resource and acquisition offices. Ms. Johnson then worked at NASA, in the area of Program Analysis and Evaluation as the Budget Officer and was subsequently named the Mission Support Division Director, with financial, acquisition, and administrative responsibilities.

Ms. Johnson is a graduate of Houston University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in accounting and management information systems. She is a recipient of the NOAA Administrators Award and NASA Space Flight Awareness Award.