Keynote: Roy D. Bridges Jr.

Lakeside is pleased to welcome former astronaut Roy D. Bridges Jr. as part of the Keynote Speaker Series in Hoover Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 1.

Bridges was the director of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) from March 2, 1997, to Aug. 9, 2003. He left KSC to become the director of the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Bridges retired as director of Langley and from NASA in 2005.

At KSC, he was responsible for managing all NASA’s facilities and activities related to processing and launch of the Space Shuttle, processing and integrating NASA payloads flown on both the Shuttle and Expendable Launch Vehicles, final tests and preparations of International Space Station (ISS) and experiments elements to be delivered to the ISS by Shuttle and developing spaceport and range technologies to improve safety and reduce the cost of access to space. KSC is responsible for the acquisition and launch of all NASA’s expendable launch vehicles from launch sites in Florida, California and Alaska. He managed a team of approximately 1,800 NASA civil service employees and 12,000 contractor employees.

Bridges is a retired U.S. Air Force Major General who held many key space-related roles during his career. Prior to his last USAF assignment at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, he was Air Force Flight Test Center commander at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He also was Eastern Space and Missile Center commander at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida; and 412th Test Wing commander at Edwards Air Force Base.

As a NASA Astronaut, he piloted the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51F, also known as Spacelab 2, in July 1985. Bridges and his crew members carried the Spacelab 2 module – a payload that contained scientific instruments dedicated to life sciences, plasma physics, astronomy, high-energy astrophysics, solar physics, atmospheric physics and technology research.

He is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, earning a Bachelor’s degree in engineering science. He received a master of science degree in astronautics from Purdue University in May 2001 and an honorary doctorate of engineering degree from Purdue. In May 2003, he received an honorary doctorate of science degree from Florida Institute of Technology.

He has received numerous awards and honors. He was inducted to the Class of 2023 of the Astronaut Hall of Fame, located at the Kennedy Space Center. He was also awarded NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal and the Presidential Meritorious Executive Award.

Bridges was born in Atlanta, but grew up in Gainesville, Georgia. He is married to the former Benita Louise Allbaugh of Tucson, Arizona. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.