Updated: July 19, 2017 at 10:29 a.m.

The director of the University’s Space Policy Institute will become one of President Donald Trump’s top advisers on space policy.

Scott Pace, the institute’s director and a professor of the practice of international affairs, was appointed the executive secretary of the National Space Council, the White House announced Thursday.

“Over his career, Dr. Scott Pace has honed his expertise in the areas of science, space and technology,” according to a White House release.

Pace will oversee the daily operations of the council, which will help Trump and his administration craft a national space policy.

Trump revived the National Space Council in a June executive order. The council, which was initially created under President George H.W. Bush in 1988, had been defunct since 1993.

During his GW tenure, Pace led the Space Policy Institute through drastic cuts to NASA’s budget and taught both undergraduate and graduate students about space policy.

Outside of GW, Pace serves as the vice chair of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing. His previous work in the government spans from NASA to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to the Office of Space Commerce, according to his biography page on GW’s website.

He also worked for nearly a decade at the RAND Corporation’s Science and Technology Policy Institute.

Pace was the recipient of several awards in his field over the past 15 years, including the 2008 NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and team awards like the U.S. Department of State’s Group Superior Honor Award in 2005 and the NASA Group Achievement Award in 2004.

In his new role, Pace will serve under Vice President Mike Pence, who chairs the council.

Pace will take a leave of absence from the University. Henry Hertzfeld, a research professor of space policy and international affairs, will take over as interim director of the Space Policy Institute, according to a University release.