| Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. | |
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Official NASA portrait of Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. |
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| Born | Montevallo, Alabama, USA |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education | Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at University of Alabama |
| Occupation | Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center |
| Website | |
| http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/about/leadership.html | |
Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. is the eleventh Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama. He was appointed to the position on August 24, 2009, after serving as acting director since the March 26, 2009, retirement of the previous director, David A. King.
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Lightfoot joined NASA in 1989 as a test engineer and program manager at Marshall.[1] In 1998, he was named deputy division chief of Marshall's propulsion test division. Lightfoot moved to NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in 1999 as chief of propulsion test operations. In 2001, he was named deputy director of the Propulsion Test Directorate at Stennis and in March 2002 he was promoted to director.[2][3]
From 2003 to 2005, Lightfoot served as assistant associate administrator for the Space Shuttle Program in the Office of Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.[2] He returned to Marshall in 2005 as manager of the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office. In 2007, Lightfoot was named deputy director of Marshall where he shared responsibility for managing the center.[4] He served in that capacity until becoming acting director in March 2009.[5] He led Marshall through the transition from the Shuttle era to the Space Launch System.[6]
Lightfoot has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama.[1] In October 2007, he was named Distinguished Departmental Fellow for the University of Alabama, Department of Mechanical Engineering and selected as a University of Alabama College of Engineering fellow in 2009. Lightfoot serves on the University of Alabama Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board.[2]
A native of Montevallo, Alabama, Lightfoot has received several awards during his career, including the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executives in 2006 and a NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2007 for "outstanding and exemplary leadership of the Shuttle Propulsion Office" and "assuring safety for the shuttle's return to flight".[2]
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