Arthur Eugene (Gene) Goldman has been named manager of the Space Shuttle
Main Engine Project in NASA’s Space Shuttle Propulsion Office at Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Michael Kynard was named deputy
manager.
Goldman had been the deputy manager for the Main Engine Project; he succeeds
George Hopson, who has taken a lead position with the NASA Engineering
Safety Center. In assuming this new position, Goldman also has been
designated to the federal government’s Senior Executive Service — the
personnel system that covers most of the top managerial, supervisory and
policy positions in the executive branch.
A native of Russell, Miss., near Meridian, Goldman is responsible for the
management of design, production and operation of the Space Shuttle Main
Engines – a $300 million project with more than 1,000 employees in Alabama,
Florida, Mississippi and California.
He joined NASA’s Marshall Center in 1990 in the Space Shuttle Systems
Management and Integration Office, where he became supervisor in 1992. In
1994, Goldman moved to the Shuttle Main Engine Project Office to oversee the
manufacturing of main engine components. Over the years he has held
progressively challenging positions in the Main Engine Project Office,
including technical assistant to the project manager and business manager.
He was named deputy manager of the Main Engine Project in 1998.
Prior to coming to NASA, Goldman worked with the Tennessee Valley Authority
at the Hartsville Nuclear Plant in Hartsville, Tenn., and Browns Ferry
Nuclear Plant in Decatur, Ala.; and with Gulf State Utilities in Baton
Rouge, La.
He has received a number of NASA service awards, including a NASA
Certificate of Appreciation and the Marshall Center Director’s Commendation.
Goldman is a graduate of Meridian Community College in Meridian, Miss., and
received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Mississippi State
University in Starkville, Miss.
Kynard began his career with NASA in 1985 as a cooperative education
student. In 1989, he became the science and engineering lead for the Main
Engine testing program at John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Kynard has been awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal; NASA’s
Silver Snoopy Award, given by the Astronaut Corps for outstanding support of
the Human Space Flight Program and the Marshall Space Flight Center
Director’s Commendation.
A native of Moundville, Ala., Kynard graduated from Hale County High School
in Moundville. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering
from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1987.
