John Chapman has been named manager of the External Tank Project Office in the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
In his new position, Chapman will lead one of NASA’s highest profile space shuttle projects and direct a workforce of more than 2,000 government and contractor employees. Chapman served as chief engineer in the Shuttle Propulsion Office from September 2004 until assuming his new position. As a leader in the Marshall Center Office of Chief Engineers, part of the center’s Engineering Directorate, Chapman’s work included resolving problems and providing technical recommendations about flight hardware and program issues for the Shuttle Propulsion Program manager.
Chapman is a 25-year NASA veteran who has been involved with the shuttle since its development and has held nearly every office manager, deputy manager and business manager post at Marshall in the Space Shuttle Program. In his new position, Chapman and his team will continue working to resolve foam insulation loss from the external fuel tank seen during Space Shuttle Discovery’s launch in July.
Chapman was appointed to the Senior Executive Service – the personnel system that covers most of the top managerial, supervisory and policy positions in the executive branch of the government – in 2004.
Prior to joining NASA, Chapman spent almost seven years in private industry. Working first for Northrop Services and then for D.P. Associates, both of Huntsville, Chapman performed engineering studies on the early development phases of the space shuttle, including providing technical and project software for the solid rocket booster project. In 1979, he joined Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, working in the defense industry to field-test laser-based missile guidance systems for the U.S. Army.
Chapman, who grew up in Spartanburg, S.C., earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1973 from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He has participated in various executive-level training courses, including Harvard University’s “Promoting Innovation and Organizational Change.”
Chapman is the co-author of three technical publications. He has received numerous NASA honors and awards, including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1988 for his work as business manager of the Space Shuttle Main Engine Project.
He lives in Madison with his wife, Cynthia, a NASA chemist, and their two sons, Brian and Cory.
