Biographies

Bruce Banks
Bruce Banks not only made significant contributions to NASA’s efforts in electric propulsion, thin-film coatings, surface texturing, and atomic oxygen ...

Dr. R. Lynn Bondurant, Jr.
Lynn Bondurant began his career at the NASA Lewis Research Center in 1981 to direct the newly established Office of Educational Programs. His creative ...

Robert Deissler
Robert Deissler began his broad heat transfer career in 1947 at the NACA Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory, which would later become NASA Glenn. He ...

Dr. Julian M. Earls
Julian Earls began his career at the center as a physicist, and he rose through the ranks to become the ninth center director of the NASA Glenn Research ...

Annie Easley
Annie Easley had never heard of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) when she read an article about twin sisters who were “human ...

Olga Gonzalez-Sanabria
Olga González-Sanabria developed a fondness for chemistry and math while growing up in Patillas, Puerto Rico. She became interested in engineering at a ...

Sanford Gordon
Sanford Gordon and Bonnie McBride were two center scientists who worked side by side to develop one of the most important and widely used computer programs ...

Dr. Harold R. Kaufman
Center researcher Harold Kaufman has the rare distinction of inventing an experimental spaceflight hardware system that has not only been demonstrated in ...

Dr. Henry Kosmahl
Dr. Heinrich “Henry” Kosmahl revolutionized the field of microwave tube amplifiers through the development and continual refinement of the multistage ...

Bruce Lundin
Bruce Lundin’s 35-year career began in 1943 when the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) lab that would become the NASA Glenn Research ...

Bonnie J. McBride
Sanford Gordon and Bonnie McBride were two center scientists who worked side by side to develop one of the most important and widely used computer programs ...

James Modarelli
In 1949, after graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art, James “Jim” Modarelli began his career as an artist-designer at the laboratory that would ...

Dr. Patricia O’Donnell
Dr. Patricia M. O’Donnell was a leader in energy conversion and storage at the Lewis Research Center for 44 years. She researched the conversion of ...

Simon Ostrach
When Simon Ostrach began his career in 1944 at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory, he was working on engine cooling problems for World War II ...

I. Irving Pinkel
I. Irving Pinkel was an authoritative voice of aerospace safety not only at the laboratory that today is the NASA Glenn Research Center, but across the ...

J. Anthony Powell
J. Anthony Powell became interested in science and engineering, particularly electronics, while growing up in Lexington, Kentucky, which was then ...

Dr. Lonnie Reid
Lonnie Reid is nationally recognized in turbomachinery for his knowledge of internal flow in advanced aerospace propulsion systems. He has a long history ...

Dr. Eli Reshotko
Eli Reshotko made seminal contributions in aerodynamics and fluid mechanics both as a researcher at the Lewis Research Center and through continual ...

Bobby Sanders
Bobby W. Sanders was a nationally-recognized leader in the advancement of engine inlet technology for over 50 years. He was engaged in the ...

Edward Raymond Sharp
Edward Raymond Sharp, known as Ray, was, the guiding force for the first 20 years of the laboratory that would become the NASA Glenn Research Center. Sharp ...

Robert Siegel
Robert Siegel began his career at the Laboratory in 1955. His first work was with the heat transfer group, investigating issues with nuclear aircraft ...

Abe Silverstein
Abe Silverstein is perhaps the preeminent figure in the history of the NASA Glenn Research Center. Although Silverstein is best known for his efforts in ...

John Sloop
John L. Sloop led the center’s efforts in the 1950s to understand basic rocket engine principles and determine optimal high-energy fuels. This led to the ...

O. Frank Spurlock
Omer “Frank” Spurlock created a unique computer code that directly impacted NASA’s launch vehicle operations, including many of its highest profile and ...

Andrew J. Stofan
Andrew (Andy) Stofan made significant contributions to the center and agency in three distinct capacities—researcher, program manager and center director. ...

Jesse Strickland
Jesse L. Strickland was an architect who specialized in breathing new life into the center’s older buildings and standardizing construction specifications ...

Steven V. Szabo, Jr.
Over the course of nearly 30 years, Steven Szabo’s career was marked by sustained accomplishments and achievements in engineering, program management and ...