Christopher B. Shank

Shank graduated from South Hagerstown High School in Hagerstown, Maryland and later attended Johns Hopkins University where he received his B.A. (history) in 1994. He graduated a Phi Beta Kappa. He later attained his M.A. (political management) from the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University in 1998. He was the valedictorian and received the Howard Paley Academic Excellence Award.

After college, Shank was a legislative assistant to the Washington County Delegation. He served in this role from 1994-98. Along with being a delegate he is also an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University.

He is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Cold Weather Homeless Shelter of Washington County, serving since 1997. He was formerly on the Board of Directors for the Washington County Chapter of the American Cancer Society.[1] Shank is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), serving as Maryland state leader.[2]

From 2001 to 2005, Shank served as on the staff of the House Science Committee. His focus topics were human spaceflight and Earth science.[3]

During the Bush presidency, Shank served as special assistant to NASA administrator Mike Griffin. Following that role, he took the position of Director of Strategic Investments at NASA. There, he resolved budgeting with Congress and the White House. He briefly served as Chief of Strategic Communications at NASA as well.[3]

In 2008, Shank was given a teaching post in George Washington University's Summer Scholars Program. Shank taught a course on election politics. During the 10-day program he lectured on his experience in campaigning as well as worked with students to simulate a mock campaign.

In January 2010, Shank announced his intention to challenge long-serving state senator Donald Munson based on charges that Munson was "too liberal." [4] On September 14, 2010, Shank defeated Munson in the Republican primary election, winning the party's nomination. Shank received 57.05% of the vote compared to Munson's 42.05%.[5]

On January 13, 2015, Shank was appointed as director of the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention and resigned his state senate seat eight days later.[6]

In 2016, Shank was promoted to the Deputy Chief of Staff of Maryland.

President Trump presented Shank as his first choice to head the NASA transition team in 2016.[3]

Shank disputes the climate consensus that climate change is occurring and that it is influenced in large part by human behavior. At a 2015 panel on science communication, Shank critiqued the goals of climate policy and the accuracy of scientific measurements, despite rules for the discussion that basic facts of science were not up for debate. He also compared climate skeptics to Galileo, a trope widely derided by science historians.[7]

• 2006 Race for Maryland House Of Delegates– District 2B[8]

Voters to choose one:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Christopher B. Shank, Rep.	9,606	99%	Won
Other Write-Ins	101	1.0%	Lost

• 2002 Race for Maryland Maryland House Of Delegates – District 2B[9]

Voters to choose one:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Christopher B. Shank, Rep.	7,749	72.33%	Won
David M. Russo	2,954	27.57%	Lost
Other Write-Ins	11	0.10%	Lost

• 1998 Race for Maryland Maryland House Of Delegates – District 2B[10]

Voters to choose one:

Name	Votes	Percent	Outcome
Christopher B. Shank, Rep.	4,873	51%	Won
D. Bruce Poole	4,626	49%	Lost

[1]

• Official biography