Longtime AIAA member Mike Griffin was three weeks away from becoming president of the American Institute of Astronautics and Astronautics. But that won’t happen now. Last night, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Dr. Michael Griffin as the 11th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Griffin, currently President-elect of the 35,000-member international technical society, will be required to resign his post in order to accept the job for which President Bush selected him in March. “The last time we had a situation similar to this was in 1969, when then-AIAA President Robert C. Seamans, Jr. was named Secretary of the Air Force,” said AIAA Executive Director Bob Dickman.
“Early signs that his confirmation hearing was going well had our whole organization elated,” said Dickman. “He would have been an excellent President for AIAA, but I can’t imagine a better choice and look forward to working with Mike and NASA in the months and years ahead.”
Griffin, a Fellow of the AIAA who has been active with the professional society for 30 years, is currently head of the Space Department at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He has had various executive positions within the aerospace industry. In the 1990s, he served as chief engineer and association administrator for exploration at NASA.
For the past five years he has been a Director at Large on the AIAA Board of Directors. He has also been active on the Space Systems and Space Transportation technical committees, the Corporate Member Committee, editor of the AIAA Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics book series and is one of the authors of AIAA’s best selling book, Space Vehicle Design. Mike is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the AIAA Space Systems Medal and the Sustained Service Award. He is also a past officer of the National Capital Section and a current Trustee to the AIAA Foundation.
AIAA’s Dickman added, “Mike faces the challenges of maintaining support from Congress, the American people, and leading NASA to meet the air and space needs of the 21st century. He’s equipped with marvelous skill and directness, and will simply tell it like it is.”
In many ways, AIAA was the perfect breeding ground for the newly minted NASA Administrator. Nearing its 75th anniversary, the Institute has been the premier organization encouraging research, disseminating knowledge, and enhancing professional development for the thousands employed in the industry. Headquartered in suburban Washington, DC, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) serves over 35,000 members in 65 regional sections and 79 countries. AIAA membership is drawn from all levels of industry, academia, private research organizations, and government and focuses on emerging technologies in aviation, space and defense.
