The Board of Directors of the Space Foundation held its annual meeting on Nov. 10, and Gen. William L. Shelton, USAF (Ret.), was elected to a one-year term as Vice Chairman of the Board. Shelton is former Commander, Air Force Space Command.

ADM James O. Ellis, Jr., USN (Ret.), will continue as Chairman of the Board of Directors. A former commander of United States Strategic Command, Ellis is an Annenberg Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Kathryn Thornton, Ph.D., was re-elected to a one-year term as Special Director for Education.  Thornton is a former NASA astronaut, and is a professor at the University of Virginia.

Re-elected to a one-year term as Secretary was Kay N. Sears, Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (SSC).

Also on the executive committee is Treasurer Hoyt Davidson, Managing Partner, Near Earth LLC, and Director Emeritus Lon. C. Levin, President and CEO of GEOshare, who was re-elected to a second term and appointed Member-at-Large.

The Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer position is vacant.

Re-elected to second terms on the Board were:

  • Michael C. Gass, former President and Chief Executive Officer, United Launch Alliance
  • Fritz Merkle, Ph.D., member of the Executive Board, OHB System AG

Members of the Board of Directors include:

  • New Generation Space Leader – Victoria Alonsopérez, Founder, Chipsafer; former Chair, Space Generation Advisory Council
  • Richard F. Ambrose, Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
  • Alice Bunn, Ph.D., Director of Policy, UK Space Agency
  • The Honorable Robert E. “Bud” Cramer, Managing Director, C2Group/FTI Consulting
  • John W. Elbon, Vice President and General Manager, The Boeing Company – Space Exploration
  • The Honorable Thomas C. Feeney, III, President and Chief Executive Officer, Associated Industries of Florida
  • Jeffrey D. Grant, Sector Vice President and General Manager, Space Systems, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
  • Blake E. Larson, Chief Operating Officer, Orbital ATK
  • Amy Mainzer, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • P.J. O’Rourke, author and political satirist
  • Robert D. Richards, Ph.D., Founder & CEO, Moon Express, Inc.
  • Ronald M. Sega, Ph.D., Director, Systems Engineering Programs, Colorado State University; former NASA astronaut
  • Richard R. Yuse, Vice President, Raytheon Company, President, Space and Airborne Systems

The new Board terms commence on January 1, 2017. 

About the Space Foundation

Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is the foremost advocate for all sectors of space, and is a global, nonprofit leader in space awareness activities, educational programs and major industry events, including the annual Space Symposium, in support of its mission “to advance space-related endeavors to inspire, enable and propel humanity.” Space Foundation World Headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA, has a public Discovery Center, including El Pomar Space Gallery, Northrop Grumman Science Center featuring Science On a Sphere® and the Lockheed Martin Space Education Center. The Space Foundation has a Washington, D.C., office and field representatives in Houston and the Florida Space Coast. It publishes The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity, and through its Space CertificationTM and Space Technology Hall of Fame® programs, recognizes space-based innovations that have been adapted to improve life on Earth. Visit both of our websites – www.SpaceFoundation.org and DiscoverSpace.org – and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Flickr and YouTube, and read our e-newsletter Space Watch.