Ike Gillam

According to Legacy.com: “After serving in the Air Force, Ike began working for NASA. There, he held a series of jobs starting with managing the Delta Program, which launched communication and weather satellites into orbit. He later oversaw the approach and landing tests of the space shuttle as the Director of Space Shuttle Operations, which led to his becoming the first Black person to lead a NASA center as the Director of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. Next, Ike was appointed as a science advisor to the White House, before serving as the first associate administrator of the Office of Commercial Programs (OCP), that expanded private sector investment in space activities. In the late 1980s, Ike moved to the private sector, initially as Senior Vice President for OAO Corp., and later, for Allied Signal (Honeywell), where he retired.” Ad Astra Ike