Prior to his nomination as NASA administrator, Bolden was the CEO of JackandPanther LLC, a small business leader, military, aerospace consulting, and motivational speaker. Born on August 19, 1946, in Columbia, South Carolina, Bolden graduated from C. A. Johnson High School and accepted an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1964. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical science in 1968 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. After completing flight training in 1970, he became a naval pilot.

After completing flight training in 1970, he became a naval pilot. Bolden flew more than 100 combat missions in northern and southern Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and was stationed in Namphong, Thailand between 1972-1973. Bolden received his B.S. in Management Systems from the University of Southern California in 1977. In 1978, he was assigned to the Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland, and completed his training in 1979. While working in the Naval Aviation Test Center's Systems Engineering and Attack Aircraft Test Directorate, he tested various ground attack aircraft until he selected 1980 astronaut candidates. Bolden's astronaut career at NASA included Technical Mission Safety Officer in the Astronaut Office; Assistant Technical Director for Crew Operations; Special Assistant to the Director at Johnson Space Center in Houston; Chief of Safety at Johnson (at He oversaw efforts to return spacecraft to flight safety after the 1986 Challenger accident; lead vehicle testing for astronauts at Kennedy Space Center in Florida; and deputy administrator at NASA Headquarters. After his last Space Shuttle flight in 1994, he left the United States to return to serve in the Marine Corps Combat Forces as deputy commandant of cadets at the United States Naval Academy. In 1997, Bolden was designated deputy commander in chief, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in the Pacific. In 1997, Bolden was designated deputy commanding general, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in the Pacific. During the first half of 1998, he served as commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in support of Desert Thunder in Kuwait. He was promoted to his final rank of major general in July 1998 and was called deputy commander of U.S. Forces in Japan. He later served as commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, from 2000-2002. He retired from the Marine Corps in 2003. Bolden's many military decorations include the U.S. Department of Defense Superior Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006. Bolden is married to the former Alexis (Jackie Walker) of Columbia, South Carolina, and the couple has two children -- Anthony Chè, a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, who is married to former Penelope McDow Gore, of Sydney, Australia, and Kelly Mitchell, a plastic surgeon at Howard University Hospital in Washington.