TECHNOLOGY
aerospace & defense
Maj. Gen. Charles
Frank Bolden, Jr.,
First black administrator of NASA
N
ominated by President
Barack Obama and con-
firmed by the U.S.
Senate, retired Marine Corps
Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden,
Jr., began his duties as the twelfth
Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration on July 17, 2009. As
Administrator, he leads the
NASA team and manages its
resources to advance the agency’s
missions and goals.
Bolden’s confirmation marks
the beginning of his second stint
with the nation’s space agency. His 34-year career with the
Marine Corps included 14 years as a member of NASA’s Astro-
naut Office. After joining the office in 1980, he traveled to orbit
four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, com-
manding two of the missions.
A resident of Houston, Bolden was born Aug. 19, 1946, in
Columbia, S.C. He graduated from C. A. Johnson High School in
1964 and received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Bolden earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical science
in 1968 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the
Marine Corps. After completing flight training in 1970, he
became a naval aviator. Bolden flew more than 100 combat mis-
sions in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, while
stationed in Namphong, Thailand, from 1972-1973.
After returning to the U.S., Bolden served in a variety of posi-
tions in the Marine Corps in California and earned a master of sci-
ence degree in systems management from the University of
Southern California in 1977. Following graduation, he was
assigned to the Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md.,
and completed his training in 1979.
Bolden’s many military decorations include the Defense Supe-
rior Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was
inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006.
Bolden is married to the former Alexis (Jackie) Walker of
Columbia, S.C. The couple has two children: Anthony Che, a
lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps who is married to the for-
mer Penelope McDougal of Sydney, Australia, and Kelly
Michelle, a medical doctor now serving a fellowship in plastic
surgery. square6
Edition IV/Fall 2009
www.blackeoejournal.com 47
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