Nelson C. Parker has been appointed manager of the Engineering Systems
Department at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
In his new position in the Engineering Directorate, Parker, who manages
approximately 80 civil servants and over 100 contractors, is responsible for
planning, directing and coordinating the research and development efforts of
the department in support of Marshall Center programs and projects. The
department’s primary functions include systems engineering support;
configuration and data management; and environments definition, modeling,
and analysis.
His department also manages the Technical Standards program for NASA, which
provides a Web-based “one stop shop” for preferred NASA, federal and
non-government technical standards.
Parker began his NASA career in 1975 as a mass properties engineer in the
Systems Analysis and Integration Laboratory. He has held numerous positions
at Marshall. In January 2000, he was named deputy manager of the
Engineering Systems Department. He was appointed in 1999 as assistant to
the director of the Engineering Directorate. From 1995 to 1999, he was
chief of the Technical Staff Office, Systems Analysis and Integration
Laboratory, and from 1993 to 1995, he served as deputy chief of the Systems
Integration Division, also within the Systems Analysis and Integration
Laboratory.
He was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1999, recognizing
significant, sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or
creativity.
A 1971 graduate of Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, Va., Parker
received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Shepherd College in
Shepherdstown, W.Va., in 1975. He earned a master’s degree in
administrative science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1984.
