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For release: 05/08/02
Release #: 02-113
NASA Marshall Director Art Stephenson honored by alma mater University of Redlands
Photo: Arthur G. Stephenson - Director, Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA/MSFC)
NASA Marshall Director Art Stephenson honored by alma mater University of Redlands
Art Stephenson, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has been given the Alumni Career Achievement Award by his alma mater, the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calf.
The university’s Alumni Board of Directors, with the recommendation of the Awards and Recognition Committee, nominated Stephenson for the honor for “his outstanding work with NASA and the space industry.” He graduated from Redlands in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
Stephenson, along with two other Redlands graduates, received the award at the Alumni Achievement Awards Ceremony on April 19. He was one of 12 alumni recognized at the banquet. The event, hosted by the University of Redlands Alumni Association, kicked off the university’s annual Alumni Reunion Weekend.
Stephenson leads the Marshall Center — NASA's premier organization for development of space transportation and propulsion systems, and NASA's leader in microgravity research and advanced large optics manufacturing technology. He administers a broad range of research and development activities, along with more than 6,500 civil service and contract employees and an annual budget currently at $2.3 billion.
Since joining Marshall in 1998, Stephenson has overseen the Center's work on critical NASA initiatives such as development of new reusable launch vehicles, Space Shuttle propulsion, advanced space transportation systems, research in microgravity, and science payload operations aboard the International Space Station, as well as the launch and continuing successful operation of the Chandra X-ray Observatory — the world's most powerful X-ray telescope.
Stephenson began his career in 1964 with TRW in Redondo Beach, Calif. In his first assignment, he designed a computer test set to verify performance of the Apollo Lunar Excursion Abort Guidance System. He later led development of the Pioneer Jupiter Spacecraft receiver, the first spacecraft to leave our solar system, and development of the Space Shuttle S-band communication network transponder, still in use today.
From 1988 to 1992, Stephenson was director of space transportation and advanced programs, heading TRW's study teams for NASA's Assured Crew Return Vehicle De-Orbit Module as well as projects for U.S. military and international space programs.
In 1992, he joined Oceaneering International Inc., and served as vice president and general manager of Oceaneering Space Systems in Houston. Under his leadership, the organization grew from 30 to 220 employees in five years, serving Marshall, Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Departments of Defense and Energy, and many prime contractors.
Stephenson was promoted to president of Oceaneering Advanced Technologies in 1997. This position combined Oceaneering Space Systems with responsibilities for Oceaneering's U.S. Navy, Department of Energy and entertainment businesses, including submarine rescue system design, robotics for hazardous waste cleanup at nuclear waste sites in the United States, and attractions for theme parks in Florida, California and Japan.
Stephenson is a member of the National Space Society and American Astronautical Society. He was awarded NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2000 and NASA's Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2001, both at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Stephenson also completed the executive program in management at the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California at Los Angeles.
He is a native of New London, Conn. He and his wife, Loa, have two adult children, Kristin and John, and three grandsons.
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