NASA Celebrates Black History Month with Lessons from African American Leaders

As part of its celebration of Black History Month, NASA will host a virtual discussion at 12 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 10, featuring a panel of current and past agency leaders. The prerecorded event will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website, as well as via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and the NASA App.

Spanning missions from Apollo to Artemis, “The Power of African American Leadership in NASA” will look at how African Americans in leadership roles have influenced change and helped drive mission success through lessons learned and discussions shared by current and past NASA leaders. The panel discussion, moderated by NASA Associate Administrator for Small Business Programs Glenn Delgado, will feature:

• Brenda Manuel, retired NASA associate administrator for diversity and equal opportunity
• Clayton Turner, center director, NASA’s Langley Research Center
• Hildreth (Hal) Walker Jr., NASA “Hidden Figure” who led the manufacturing, testing, and operation of the KORAD K-1500 ruby laser system for the lunar laser ranging experiment as part of the Apollo 11 Moon landing
• Woodrow Whitlow, retired NASA associate administrator for mission support
• Vanessa Wyche, deputy center director, NASA’s Johnson Space Center

The event is sponsored by the Black Employee Strategy Team at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the African American Employee Resource Group at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the NASA Headquarters Chapter of Blacks In Government, and the NASA Headquarters African-American Coalition for Advocacy and Leadership.

For information about NASA’s missions, programs and activities, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov