Background of Columbia Accident Investigation Board members

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug 26, 2003 | by Associated Press

These are the members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board:

-- Chairman: Retired Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr., retired from Navy in 2000 after more than 35 years of active duty. Born in Norfolk, Va., educated at Pennsylvania State University. Served two tours in Vietnam. Former commander in chief of the U.S. Joint Forces Command. Co-chaired Defense Department panel that investigated the bombing of the USS Cole.

-- Maj. Gen. John L. Barry, director of plans and programs at the Air Force Materiel Command headquarters, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Air Force Academy graduate. Worked as NASA administrator's executive assistant and White House liaison. Military assistant to the defense secretary during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

-- Brig. Gen. Duane W. Deal, commander of the 21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, which provides missile warning for U.S. combat forces and the governments of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Has served on at least 10 investigations into space launch and aircraft incidents.

-- James Hallock, chief of the Transportation Department's Aviation Safety Division. Received physics Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

-- Maj. Gen. Kenneth W. Hess, Air Force safety chief and commander of Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

-- Scott Hubbard, director of the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. Involved in space research missions since 1974 and was first Mars program director at NASA headquarters.

-- John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University where he has been on the faculty since 1970. He has a Ph.D. in political science from New York University and has written books and articles on space policy.

-- Douglas D. Osheroff, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in physics with two colleagues at Cornell University. Now serves as physics professor at Stanford.

-- Sally Ride, former astronaut and the first American woman in space. She also served on the Challenger commission investigating the 1986 shuttle disaster. She is a professor of space science at the University of California at San Diego and has a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford.

-- Roger E. Tetrault, retired chairman of McDermott International Inc. and former executive at General Dynamics. Graduated from the Naval Academy in 1963, served as naval aviator. At McDermott subsidiary Babcock and Wilcox, was involved with missile components and advanced solid rocket motor bodies for the space shuttle.

-- Rear Adm. Stephen A. Turcotte, commander of the Naval Safety Center in Norfolk, Va. Former naval aviator and commanding officer of the Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida.

-- Steven Wallace, director of the Federal Aviation Administration's accident investigation office. Principal liaison with the National Transportation Safety Board. Oversees FAA response to NTSB safety recommendations, as well as internal FAA safety recommendations. Licensed commercial pilot.

-- Sheila E. Widnall, former Air Force Secretary, now professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering systems at MIT.