Community Conversation with Dr. Kimberly Robinson

Description

The LGH alumni will hear from Dr. Robinson and her vision and plans for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center as well as the current challenges the organization is facing and any exciting updates. You will also learn about ways that you can help their mission! 

Dr. Kimberly Robinson Bio: Dr. Robinson is the CEO and Executive Director of leading tourist attraction and home to the world-renowned U.S. Space Camp, U.S. Space Academy, Aviation Challenge, Cyber Challenge and Robotics Camp. The Center is the official Visitor Center for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, an Official Visitor Center for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and a Smithsonian Affiliate. 

Dr. Robinson’s career spans more than three decades of service at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Prior to becoming CEO of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in February 2021, she was the Utilization Manager for Advanced Exploration Systems at NASA HQ for the Artemis Program, which will return astronauts to the lunar surface. Previously she served at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center as the Payload Mission Manager, Strategic the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Alabama’s Communications Manager and charter Deputy Program Integration Manager for NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will launch America’s next moonwalkers. 

Dr. Robinson also served as the Deputy Project Manager and later the Project Integration Manager for the Ares I-X test flight, which was named Time magazine’s science invention of the year in 2009, and as a Crew Trainer preparing NASA astronauts for science missions aboard the Space Shuttle. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal, a Silver Group Achievement Medal, a Silver Snoopy Award from the Astronaut Corps, and a Manned Space Flight Awareness Award. 

Dr. Robinson earned her doctorate and master’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. She has taught at Oakwood University as a NASA Administrator’s Fellow and at UAH in the Systems Management and Production Center. She and her husband reside in Huntsville and have three sons.