OSBURN STEERS NASA MISSIONS IN RIGHT DIRECTION Dick Osburn (MA, 1967) provided a sure and steady hand over ground navigation at NASA’s Mission Control for 11 Apollo missions, including the historic Apollo 11 moon landing. He was the first controller to report to flight director Gene Kranz that there had been a spacecraft anomaly on Apollo 13, eventually aborting the mission (documented in the movie “Apollo 13”). He also supported Skylab and Space Shuttle missions, and was head of NASA’s ground navigation section from 1980 to 1985. He later moved to Rockwell Space Operations and worked on Space Shuttle missions until his retirement in 2003.
Don Fordyce (ME, 1956) and Richard Wegrich (ME, 1958) helped create key components for the Hubble Space Telescope, which has provided a glimpse into deep space. Fordyce was brought in to manage the Hubble program after having a successful career as vice president of Fairchild’s space systems division. Wegrich directed development of the temperature control system for the telescope’s eye piece. James Dunlop (EE, 1952) developed the nickel-hydrogen battery that powered satellites, the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station. His prototype battery is on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
AEROSPACE
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TRAILBLAZERS
As engineers at Lockheed Martin, Nicholee (Page) Nietch (ME, 2001) and Karl Ammerman (1996, CPE) designed key elements of NASA’s Juno space probe that is orbiting Jupiter. Nietch also worked on NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Steven Schmitz (ME, 2007) is a senior manager for SpaceX, overseeing the design and analysis of avionics mechanical systems for Falcon 9 and Dragon space flight vehicles.
Dick Osburn
PUBLIC SECTOR
WILKINS HELPS AFRICAN-AMERICANS TELL THEIR STORIES Stories about the African-American experience have come to life at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the nation’s capital, through the efforts of Robert Wilkins (CHE, 1986; HDENG, 2017) and many others. Wilkins served on the Presidential Commission created by Congress to plan the museum and its location, part of the Smithsonian Institution. He also has made contributions to the nation as a public defender, defense attorney and, today, as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court. Al Yee (CE, 1948), a pioneer in the design of precast concrete structures for land and sea structures, was a consultant on the design and construction of such iconic building projects as the USS Arizona Memorial, one of the most visited and admired sites in America, and the 70-story Sail @ Marina Bay tower in Singapore. Yee was named a Titan of the precast/prestressed concrete industry and recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers and Prestressed Concrete Institute.
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Marshall Goldsmith (MA ECON, 1970) is sought by executives of Fortune 500 companies and world leaders as the No. 1 Leadership Thinker and No. 1 Executive Coach, named both by Thinkers50, sponsored by the Harvard Business Review. He is a best-selling business author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (2007), MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, and How to Get It Back If You Lose It (2010) and Triggers (2015). Fujio Matsuda (CE, 1949) found success as president for a decade (1974 to 1984) at the University of Hawaii (the first Asian-American to lead a major U.S. university). Earlier, as head of the Hawaii State Department of Transportation, he contributed to the development of the state’s transportation system (including highways, airports and shipping ports)— an achievement that earned him membership in the National Academy of Engineering in 1974. n
Robert Wilkins
