Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award Open for Nominations 10 February 2025 – 1 June 2025
The Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award is presented for the best original contribution to the field of aeronautical or astronautical non-fiction literature published in the last five years dealing with the science, technology, and/or impact of aeronautics or astronautics on society. It honors David Lasser, an editor of science fiction stories who is considered to be the guiding spirit of the founders of the American Interplanetary Society and its first president, and Lester Durand Gardner, publisher of Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering (which later became Aviation Week and Space Technology) and the founder of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences. The American Interplanetary Society (later known as the American Rocket Society) and Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences merged to form the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
This annual award is generally presented at the AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (AIAA SciTech Forum), but may be presented at the Forum which matches the focus of the selected literature.
Deadlines:
Accepting Online Nominations: 10 February
Nomination Deadline: 1 June
Endorsement Letters Deadline: 1 July
Award Recipients
2024
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Dr Margaret A WeitekampSmithsonian National Air and Space MuseumAwardedAward: 2024 AIAA Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature AwardAIAA Citation: Book: Space Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Space Flight
2023
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Dr Diane VaughanColumbia UniversityAwardedAward: 2023 AIAA Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature AwardAIAA Citation: Book: "Dead Reckoning: Air Traffic Control, System Effects, and Risk"
2022
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Dr John M LogsdonGeorge Washington UniversityAwardedAward: 2022 AIAA Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature AwardAIAA Citation: Book: "Ronald Reagan and the Space Frontier”
2021
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Slava GerovitchAwardedAward: 2021 AIAA GARDNER-LASSER AEROSPACE LITERATURE AWARDAIAA Citation: Book: Soviet Space Mythologies: Public Images, Private Memories, and the Making of a Cultural Identity
2020
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Dr Jeremy R KinneyNational Air and Space MuseumAwardedAward: Reinventing the Propeller: Aeronautical Specialty and the Triumph of the Modern Airplane”
2019
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Dr Valerie NealSmithsonian National Air and Space MuseumAwardedAward: Spaceflight in the Shuttle Era and Beyond: Redefining Humanity’s Purpose in SpaceAIAA Citation: Spaceflight in the Shuttle Era and Beyond: Redefining Humanity’s Purpose in Space
2018
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Margot Lee ShetterlyAwardedAward: Hidden FiguresAIAA Citation: Hidden Figures
2017
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Dr John M LogsdonAwardedAIAA Citation: For the book, "After Apollo: Richard Nixon and the American Space Program"
2016
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Dr Monique LaneyAuburn UniversityAwardedAIAA Citation: For the book, “German Rocketeers In The Heart of Dixie: Making Sense of the Nazi Past During The Civil Rights Era.”
2015
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Dennis R. JenkinsAerospace HistorianAwardedAIAA Citation: "Dressing for Altitude"
2014
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Dr William J ClanceyFlorida Institute for Human & Machine CognitionAwardedAIAA Citation: “Working on Mars: Voyages of Scientific Discovery with The Mars Exploration Rovers"
2013
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Prof David MindellMassachusettes Institute of TechnologyAwardedAIAA Citation: "Digital Apollo: Human and Machine In Spaceflight"
2012
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Dr John M LogsdonAwardedAIAA Citation: “John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon.”
2011
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Mr James R HansenAuburn UniversityAwarded-CoRecipientsAIAA Citation: "Truth, Lies, and O-Rings"
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Allan J McDonaldAwarded-CoRecipientsAIAA Citation: "Truth, Lies, and O-Rings"
2010
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Mr. John D HunleyAwardedAIAA Citation: "Preludes To U.S. Space Launch Vehicle Technology" and "U. S. Space Launch Vehicle Technology"
2009
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Dr Orville ButlerAmerican Institute of PhysicsAwarded-CoRecipientsAIAA Citation: "A History of the Kennedy Space Center"
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Dr Kenneth LipartitoFlorida International UniversityAwarded-CoRecipientsAIAA Citation: "A History of the Kennedy Space Center"
2008
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Mr. Peter J. WestwickUniversity of CaliforniaAwardedAIAA Citation: "Into The Black: JPL and the American Space Program 1876-2004"
2007
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Dr Richard P HallionAwardedAIAA Citation: “Taking Flight: Inventing the Aerial Age From Antiquity Through The First World War” ISBN 978-0195160352
2006
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Mr James R HansenAuburn UniversityAwardedAIAA Citation: "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong"
2005
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Dr Tom D CrouchNational Air & Space MuseumAwardedAIAA Citation: “Wings”
2004
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Mr. Michael GornNASA-Dryden Flight Research CenterAwardedAIAA Citation: "Expanding The Envelope"
2003
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Anne MillbrookeAwarded-CoRecipientsAIAA Citation: “Aviation History”
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Mr. William F TrimbleNational Air and Space MuseumAwarded-CoRecipientsAIAA Citation: “Jerome C. Hunsaker and the Rise of American Aeronautics”
2002
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Dr John D AndersonRetired f/University of MarylandAwardedAIAA Citation: “A History of Aerodynamics”