Julia Tizard joined Virgin Galactic in 2006. She is responsible for the day-to-day running of the commercial human spaceflight program, covering technical operations of the spaceflight system, flight operations and support services. Julia holds a master’s degree and PhD in astrophysics from the University of Manchester, UK. She has published many papers covering various areas of space science and is a member of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Space Society and International Association of Astronomical Artists. Julia co-founded a US non-profit, District Commons, an organization and network of resources dedicated to building community and collaboration to catalyze advancing society.

Julia is a keen mountain climber and marathon runner. She is a founder and board member of the Mojave Marathon LLC, and annual running event in the Mojave Desert. She has climbed the highest peaks in the Alps and Africa and in 2010 completed a marathon at the geographic North Pole. Julia was part of five summit climbs of twelve first ascents made by a recent climbing expedition to establish new routes on unclimbed summits in the Tien Shan mountain range in Kyrgyzstan.