NASA Announces Leadership Changes at Glenn and Johnson

Nov. 16, 2012

David Weaver
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
david.s.weaver@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-398

NASA ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP CHANGES AT GLENN AND JOHNSON

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced leadership
changes Friday for the agency's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland
and Johnson Space Center in Houston.

James Free will succeed Ramon (Ray) Lugo as Glenn's center director
when Lugo retires in January. Free has served as Glenn's deputy
director since January 2011.

Ellen Ochoa will succeed Michael Coats as Johnson's center director
when Coats retires at the end of the year. Ochoa has served as
Johnson's deputy director since September 2007.

"Ellen and Jim are experienced, outstanding leaders who I know will
continue to do great things as they take the helms of their field
centers," Bolden said. "I also want to thank Mike and Ray for their
years of leadership and dedicated service at NASA, most recently
while guiding Johnson and Glenn through pivotal times for those
centers. I am sad to see Mike leave, as he and I have been close
friends and allies since coming together in the summer of 1964 as new
plebes in the Great Naval Academy class of 1968. I also want to thank
Ray for his years of tireless work at NASA, for a long while on the
team at the Kennedy Space Center and, most recently, while leading
Glenn."

Free began his career in 1990 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md. as a propulsion engineer and later as a systems
engineer on NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. He joined
Glenn in 1999 as the International Space Station liaison for the
Fluids and Combustion Facility. His other NASA assignments have
included director of Space Flight Systems at Glenn, Orion Service
Module manager at Glenn and chief of the center's Orion Project
Office. He also worked at Johnson as the Orion Test and Verification
manager.

Ochoa is a four-time space shuttle astronaut who previously served as
director and deputy director of flight crew operations at Johnson.
She managed the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Ames
Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., before being selected as an
astronaut candidate in 1990. Ochoa flew on space shuttle missions
STS-56 in 1993, STS-66 in 1994, STS-96 in 1999, and STS-110 in 2002,
logging a total of 978 hours in space.

Lugo's retirement brings to a close a 37-year career at NASA. In 1975,
he began working at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as a
cooperative education student. His first assignment was in the
Construction and Modifications Branch as an engineer responsible for
construction modifications to Launch Pad 39A in preparation for the
first space shuttle mission. His other NASA assignments included
serving as Glenn's deputy center director and deputy program manager
for NASA's Launch Services Program.

Former space shuttle commander Coats was selected as an astronaut
candidate from the U.S. Navy in 1978. He flew on three shuttle
missions, serving as pilot for STS-41-D in 1984 and commander for
STS-29 in 1989 and STS-39 in 1991. Following his final shuttle
mission, Coats retired from the Navy and NASA's Astronaut Office in
August 1991 to join the private sector. He returned to NASA in 2005
to become Johnson's 10th center director.

For more information about NASA missions and programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


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