Rex Geveden
Encyclopedia
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
. Previously he was the Associate Administrator of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
. He was selected for that position by NASA chief Michael Griffin
Michael D. Griffin
Michael Douglas Griffin is an American physicist and aerospace engineer. From April 13, 2005 to January 20, 2009 he served as Administrator of NASA, the space agency of the United States...
on August 17, 2005, after having served in an acting capacity since June of that year. Griffin created the position immediately prior to assigning Geveden to fill it. The Associate Administrator's task is described as "oversight for all the agency's technical missions' areas and field center operations" http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/aug/HQ_05227_geveden.html. Griffin also suggested Geveden was his right-hand man, saying "...if you get a decision from Rex, it's the agency's decision." http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/127082main_090805_mg_update.pdf
Geveden's first job out of college was at Teledyne Brown Engineering (where he is now President). After a few years stint at TBE Geveden joined NASA in 1990, and worked on hardware design for a number of science satellite missions, including as project manager for the Optical Transient Detector satellite, the Lightning Imaging Sensor satellite, and the Gravity Probe B
Gravity Probe B
Gravity Probe B is a satellite-based mission which launched on 20 April 2004 on a Delta II rocket. The spaceflight phase lasted until 2005; its aim was to measure spacetime curvature near Earth, and thereby the stress–energy tensor in and near Earth...
satellite, a successful test of frame dragging effects predicted by General Relativity
General relativity
General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...
. He was promoted to deputy director of the science directorate at Marshall Space Flight Center
Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. The largest center of NASA, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program...
, then in 2003 to Deputy Director of Marshall Space Flight Center. In November 2004, he was promoted again to become chief engineer of NASA, simultaneously with a major expansion of that office's responsibilities, in the wake of the report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board
Columbia Accident Investigation Board
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board was convened by NASA to investigate the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-107 upon atmospheric re-entry on February 1, 2003. In addition to determining the cause of the accident, the panel also recommended changes that should be made...
. Only seven months later, in the first weeks of Mike Griffin's administration in June 2005, Griffin made Geveden his acting associate administrator until the post was officially created.
Geveden is a native of Mayfield, Kentucky
Mayfield, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,349 people, 4,358 households, and 2,667 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,549.8 people per square mile . There were 4,907 housing units at an average density of 734.8 per square mile...
. He is married to Gail Geveden, and they have two children, Bridget and Jake. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering physics and master's degrees in physics in 1983 and 1984 respectively, both from Murray State University
Murray State University
Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. Geveden also graduated from the Program Management School at the Defense Systems Management College, and aside from his work, Geveden is also studying for a Ph.D. in materials engineering at Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
.
Geveden announced his plans to leave NASA at the end of July 2007 to become president of Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama. Mike Griffin praised Geveden on his departure saying he "possesses one of the most agile minds I have encountered". Geveden was replaced as Associate Administrator of NASA by Christopher Scolese
Christopher Scolese
Christopher Scolese is the Associate Administrator of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration and served as that agency's acting Administrator during the period following Michael D. Griffin's resignation, effective January 20, 2009, until Charles F...
.