The reorganization, announced in January by Marshall Center Director Arthur G. Stephenson, also is designed to increase focus on the Center's roles and missions within NASA.

"One main objective in developing this new organizational structure is improving service to all our customers, which are other NASA Centers, the Department of Defense, commercial industries and academia," said Stephenson.

"I wanted our organization to be more product line focused, while at the same time maintaining the strong engineering capability Marshall is known for across NASA," he said.

Changes to Marshall's operations include establishing four new directorates Space Transportation, Science, Flight Projects and Engineering. Two other directorates -- Center Operations, managed by Sheila Cloud, and Customer and Employee Relations, managed by Tereasa Washington -- were created prior to Stephenson's arrival.

The Flight Projects Directorate oversees the International Space Station and operations projects, as well as some future programs. Axel Roth, with Marshall since 1960, has been named director of the office. A native of Darmstadt, Germany, Roth has served as an engineer or in leadership positions in programs involving Apollo/Saturn, Skylab, Spacelab and the Space Station.

The Engineering Directorate is responsible for providing engineering services to the three new product line directorates, as well as the development of advanced subsystem and component technologies. Named as director is James W. Kennedy, a Riverdale, Md., native. Kennedy began his Marshall career in 1969 as a co-op student in the Astronautics laboratory in the Science and Engineering Office. He also has served as manager of the Solid Rocket Booster Project Office and the X-34 Project Office, and most recently as deputy director of Science and Engineering.

Stephenson later will name directors for the Space Transportation Directorate, which oversees all space transportation programs except Space Shuttle Operations, and the Science Directorate, which manages microgravity, optics, space and Earth science programs -- and for a new Systems Management Office to facilitate programs/project management and system engineering skills across the Center.

"I believe our employees are energized about working in a more streamlined and product-focused environment, because it will help them better respond to customers and optimize resources," said Stephenson. "An additional goal is to have management act more as a coach and less as a decision-maker."

In addition to the organizational restructuring, Stephenson has put increased emphasis on safety. He also is stressing Marshall's values -- what the organization cares about -- including its employees, customers, excellence, teamwork and innovation.

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