William Readdy To Succeed Dr. Joseph Allen

Representatives with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education told ANN Tuesday that in January 2008, William Readdy will succeed astronaut and business executive, Dr. Joseph Allen, Ph.D. as chairman of the board.

Readdy (shown at right) brings over three decades of experience in the aerospace industry to Challenger Center. He had a distinguished career with NASA as an astronaut, and later as associate administrator for space operations.

"Joe served as Chairman of our Board for nearly 10 years and prior to that he was a tremendous supporter and advisor to me and the other family members," said Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, Challenger Center founder. "Joe's leadership helped to grow our great network, fine tune the organization, and we are all very pleased that Joe will remain an active member of our Board of Directors for many years to come." 

Readdy has been serving on the board for the past two years and is actively engaged helping Challenger Center to engage over 400,000 students and their teachers nationwide.

Challenger Center programs aim to instill a long-term interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in students, motivating them to pursue a career in these fields. The network of 50 Challenger Learning Centers across the US train more than 25,000 teachers annually to incorporate project-based learning and use the theme of space exploration to engage students in critical thinking, decision-making, communication and teamwork.

Recently, Readdy participated in the Challenger Center STS-118 'learning from space' celebration this past August. This event brought together students from across the country in live Q & A sessions with Readdy and fellow astronauts Dr. Roger Crouch and Dr. Joseph P. Allen.

The two-day event culminated with a live downlink with educator astronaut Barbara Morgan and astronaut Alvin Drew from the International Space Station.

This milestone event was fulfillment of the 51-L Challenger Crew's educational 'Teacher in Space' mission... which ended in tragedy in January 1986. 

FMI: www.challenger.org