A press release from NASA read in part, “Former NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk passed away Nov. 23, at the age of 61, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. During his career, which spanned more than three decades with the agency, Jurczyk rose in ranks to associate administrator, the highest-ranking civil servant, a position he held from May 2018 until January 2021. He ultimately went on to serve as acting administrator between administration changes, serving in that position from January 2021 until his retirement in May 2021. … He also was an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.”
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NASA’s Langley Research Center Directors Talk About Time at Center
Panelists: Moderator James R. Hansen, professor of history and director of The University Honors College, Auburn University; Dave Bowles, director, NASA’s Langley Research Center; Roy Bridges, former director, Langley; Jeremiah Creedon, former director, Langley; Delma Freeman, former director, Langley; Steve Jurczyk, former director, Langley; Lesa Roe, former director, Langley
by Hannah Godofsky, AIAA Communications
Past directors of NASA’s Langley Research Center reflected on their time at the center Jan. 9 during the 2017 AIAA SciTech Forum in Grapevine, Texas.
AIAA commemorated 100 years of Langley with the “NASA Langley Centennial—A Storied Legacy, A Soaring Future” panel, which featured directors from 1996 to present day.
Jeremiah Creedon, Langley’s director from 1996 to 2002, spoke positively of the work he contributed.
“I can only wish for everyone in this audience, each and every one of you, that you could feel the same sense of pride that I felt working at NASA Langley,” he said.
Creedon also praised Langley for its meritocratic operating methods.
“I found it to be a very egalitarian organization,” he said. “It didn’t matter what you looked like or what you spoke like … it just mattered what you could do.”
Del Freeman, Langley’s director from 2002 to 2003, praised the work ethic of the center’s engineers and scientists.
“I was taught the job is never finished until you’ve got all the data, you’ve analyzed the data, and you’ve answered all the questions,” he said. “What has really made Langley over the years is the people. People given the opportunity and the challenges have produced some very significant things there.”
Others emphasized that aerospace can be an exciting career.
“What I’m going to tell you about my career all stemmed from just wanting to get off the dairy farm in northeast Georgia,” said Roy Bridges, Langley’s director from 2003 to 2005. “I was looking for a way that might have a little excitement in it.”
Lesa Roe, Langley’s director from 2005 to 2014, presided over an era of budget cuts and was put into the position of reorganizing a much leaner Langley.
“We’ve really reinvigorated the center with what we’ve done,” she said. “It’s smaller — it will be about 40 percent smaller than it was, but it will be much stronger than it was. And it’s all about the value that NASA Langley brings to the nation and its core competencies.”
Roe also praised the workforce at Langley.
“The thing that kept me there the whole nine years is just an incredible team of folks,” she said. “We just have a great team … Focusing on the challenges of flight is the core.”
Steve Jurczyk, Langley’s director from 2014 to 2015, has worked at NASA for 29 years. He said he appreciated the experience and echoed the praises of the workforce.
“Some of the things I value about Langley are really things I treasure about my own career,” he said. “I just really valued [the] hands-on experience. Also, the mentors I had on every project were just incredible. There is just such a culture of mentoring and paying it forward.”
Dave Bowles, Langley’s current director, has worked at the center for 37 years and summed it all up by saying, “One of the great things about Langley: You can do different things, and you’re really given opportunities to stretch.”
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AIAA Announces 2023 ASCEND Guiding Coalition Comprised of Prominent Leaders Across the Aerospace Community and Adjacent Industries
June 26, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is proud to announce the 44 members of the 2023 ASCEND Guiding Coalition who represent a diverse mix of leading aerospace companies, government agencies, and academic institutions, each with a shared commitment to the mission of ASCEND to Accelerate Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery.
The ASCEND Guiding Coalition is an advisory board of technology, science, engineering, and business leaders selected to help maximize ASCEND’s reach and impact, including the design and content of its centerpiece annual event. 2023 ASCEND is scheduled for 23–25 October, Caesars Forum, Las Vegas, focused on building our sustainable off-world future through collaboration.
“The members of the ASCEND Guiding Coalition bring a wealth of experience and expertise as leaders in commercial space operations, government space policy, science and technology policy, new entrepreneurial ventures, and business strategy. We are thrilled for their involvement so we can build our off-world future faster,” said Julie Van Kleeck, ASCEND Executive Producer and AIAA Space Domain Lead.
The members of the 2023 ASCEND Guiding Coalition are:
- Sirisha Bandla, Vice President, Government Affairs, Virgin Galactic
- Bill Beckman, Director, NASA Programs, Boeing Global Sales and Marketing
- Tejpaul Bhatia, Chief Revenue Officer, Axiom Space
- Robert (Bobby) D. Braun, Head, Space Exploration Sector, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
- Tory Bruno, CEO, United Launch Alliance
- Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, United States Space Force*
- Steven (Bucky) J. Butow, Director, Space Portfolio, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)*
- Johnathon Caldwell, Vice President and General Manager, Military Space, Lockheed Martin
- Ahsan Choudhuri, Associate Vice President for Aerospace Center and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso
- Carissa Christensen, CEO, BryceTech
- Sandra Connelly, Deputy Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA*
- Michael Costas, General Manager, Defense and Space, Bechtel Nuclear, Security & Environmental
- Laura Crabtree, Chief Executive Officer, Epsilon3
- Kara Cunzeman, Lead Futurist, Strategic Foresight, The Aerospace Corporation
- Robert Curbeam, Senior Vice President, Space Capture, Maxar
- Dan Dumbacher, Executive Director, AIAA
- Ariel Ekblaw, Director, Space Exploration Initiative, MIT Media Lab
- Carol Erikson, Vice President, Digital Transformation, Space Systems, Northrop Grumman*
- Debra Facktor, Head of U.S. Space Systems, Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Inc.
- James Free, Associate Administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA
- Michael Gazarik, Vice President, Engineering, Ball Aerospace
- Bill Gerstenmaier, Vice President, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX
- Phillip Ingle, Manager Director, Morgan Stanley
- Lt. Gen. Larry James, USAF (Ret.), Deputy Director, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory*
- Steve Jurczyk, Co-Founder and CEO, Quantum Space*
- Janet Kavandi, President, Sierra Space*
- Joe Landon, CEO, Crescent Space
- Sandra Magnus, Principal, Astroplanetview, LLC
- Clare Martin, Executive Vice President, Astroscale U.S.*
- Jim Maser, Senior Vice President, Space, Aerojet Rocketdyne
- Rob Meyerson, CEO, Delalune Space
- Mark Mozena, Vice President, Government Affairs, Planet Federal*
- Todd Nygren, Senior Vice President, Engineering and Technology Group, The Aerospace Corporation
- Shawna Pandya, Director, Space Medicine Group, International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS)
- Lt. Gen. John Shaw, Deputy Commander, U.S. Space Command*
- Wanda Sigur, President, Lambent Engineering LLC
- Lauren Smith, Senior Program Manager, Satellite Servicing, Northrop Grumman
- Melanie Stricklan, CEO & Co-Founder, Slingshot Aerospace
- Russ Teehan, Principal Solutions Architect, Government Satellite Systems, Amazon
- Derek Tournear, Director, Space Development Agency
- Julie Van Kleeck, ASCEND Executive Producer and AIAA Space Domain Lead
- Matthew C. Weinzierl, Senior Associate Dean and Chair, MBA Program; Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School*
- Vanessa Wyche, Director, NASA Johnson Space Center
Registration for 2023 ASCEND is open now. Journalists from around the world are invited to cover the event; press passes are available for credentialed media by request.
*New Members in 2023
Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About ASCEND
Powered by AIAA, ASCEND, which stands for Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery, is the world’s premier collaborative, outcomes-driven, interdisciplinary community designed to accelerate the building of our off-world future. For more information, visit ascend.events, or follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.