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Nov. 10, 2005
For immediate release
Contact: William F. Readdy, 202-746-2356
or
info@discovery-partners.com
VETERAN ASTRONAUT LAUNCHES
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY CONSULTANCY
Arlington, Va. -- Veteran space shuttle
commander William F. Readdy has established a consulting firm to provide
strategic planning, risk management, safety and emerging technology
solutions to aerospace and high-tech industries.
Readdy
brings substantial program management expertise and a reputation for strong
executive leadership to Discovery Partners International LLC. He founded the
company in October 2005, following a distinguished 30-year career with the
United States Navy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Discovery
Partners International LLC, headquartered in Arlington, Va., partners with
clients from Fortune 500, mid-cap companies to small business, as well as
government agencies to engineer strategies for leadership, operational and
management improvement. More information about the consulting firm is
available at
www.discovery-partners.com.
Readdy is a
decorated naval aviator and a veteran of three space shuttle missions,
including a 1996 flight to the Russian space station Mir. He served most
recently as NASA’s Associate Administrator for Space Operations, where he
guided the space agency’s successful effort to return the shuttle to flight
after the Columbia accident.
Readdy
served as a Naval test pilot and instructor between carrier-based
deployments to the North Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean in the late
1970s and early 1980s. He joined the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration in 1986 while continuing his military service in the Naval
Reserve, attaining the rank of Captain before retiring in 2000.
He was a
research pilot at the Johnson Space Center in Houston when NASA tapped him
for the astronaut corps in 1987. Over the next nine years, he logged more
than 672 hours in space on three shuttle missions. He commanded his third
flight, docking space shuttle Atlantis at the Russian space station
Mir in 1996 and overseeing the first exchange of American astronaut
researchers living aboard the Russian outpost.
Between
shuttle missions, Readdy served NASA in a variety of key engineering support
and management roles. One of his most important contributions was a
five-month stint as director of NASA operations in Star City, Russia, where
he implemented activities and fostered cooperation in the first, critical
phase of the international space station partnership.
In 1998,
Readdy was appointed as deputy associate administrator for space shuttle,
space communications, and expendable launch vehicles based at NASA
Headquarters in Washington DC. Three years later, he was promoted to
associate administrator for space operations, at which time he led a $6
billion-a-year enterprise comprising five major programs, four field
installations and more than 40,000 civil servant and contractor employees.
Readdy
chaired NASA’s Space Flight Leadership Council, overseeing the agency’s
recovery from the February 2003 Columbia accident and the shuttle’s
successful return to flight in July 2005.
Internet
links to additional resources:
Readdy’s official NASA biography
Readdy's official NASA astronaut portrait
ASK Magazine Readdy interview on leadership
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