Jerry R. Cook, an engineer and manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has received the 2006-2007 Aerospace Engineer of the Year Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The annual award, recognizing individuals who demonstrate extraordinary technical skill and leadership in the practice of the aerospace engineering profession, was presented to Cook June 5 during the AIAA’s 55th annual installation and awards dinner in Huntsville.
Cook, recently selected as manager of the Space Shuttle Main Engine Project, received the award for his work in his previous position as deputy manager of the Crew Launch Vehicle Upper Stage Office. In that position, he was responsible for planning, procurement, design, development, testing, production and operations in the Upper Stage Office.
Cook began his NASA career in 1985 as a test engineer at the Marshall Center, managing various hazardous test programs. Beginning in 1991, he was a systems engineer in Marshall’s Solid Motor Design Branch, where he managed resources required to assemble, install, check out and test hybrid and solid rocket combustion simulator motors. He was a senior test engineer in the Technology Evaluation Department beginning in 1995, providing technical direction and management of numerous hazardous test programs. From 1999 to 2001, he worked in the Space Transportation Directorate, first as a goals manager in the Program Planning and Development and later as a second generation reusable launch vehicle representative at NASA Headquarters in Washington. He was named deputy manager of the Program Planning and Development Office for the Space Launch Initiative in 2001 and manager of the Acquisition Management Office in the Orbital Space Plane program in 2003. He became deputy manager of the Crew Launch Vehicle Upper Stage Office in 2005 and assumed his current position in May 2007.
During his career, Cook has been the recipient of several NASA awards, including the Silver Snoopy award from the Astronaut Corps in 2000 for contributions to the success of human space flight missions and the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2004 for significant contributions to the NASA mission.
A native of Greensboro, Ala., Cook received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1984 from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He has authored and co-authored numerous technical papers and books on aerospace and propulsion, including American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics papers, and has been published in “Aerospace America” and the “McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology.”
Cook and his wife, the former Felicia Elizabeth Riggs of Huntsville, and their two children, live in Huntsville.
