Richard H. Truly (Vice Admiral, USN, Ret.) NASA Astronaut (Former)

Richard Harrison Truly (born November 12, 1937) is a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, Naval Aviator, former astronaut, and was the eighth Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1989 to 1992. He was the first former astronaut to head the space agency.

Born in Fayette, Mississippi, Truly attended schools in Fayette and Meridian, Mississippi, receiving a bachelor of aeronautical engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1959. Truly was ordered to flight school and was designated a Naval Aviator on October 7, 1960. His initial tour of duty was in Fighter Squadron 33 where he flew F-8 Crusaders aboard USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise) and made more than 300 carrier landings.

From 1963 to 1965, he was first a student and later an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

In 1965, Truly was among the first military astronauts selected to the USAF Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program in Los Angeles, California. He became an astronaut for NASA in August 1969, after the cancellation of the MOL project. He was a member of the astronaut support crew and capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for all three of the manned Skylab missions in 1973, and the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. He was assigned to one of the two-man crews for the Approach and Landing Tests of the Space Shuttle Enterprise in 1977, and the STS-2 mission in 1981. Truly served as commander of STS-8 in 1983. After STS-8, Truly left NASA to become the first commander of the Naval Space Command.

Three weeks after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Truly returned to NASA to became NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Flight on February 20, 1986. His primary task was to watch over the space shuttle's return to flying status. Along with that, he was also responsible for such long term issues as whether or not the Challenger would be replaced, the role the shuttle would play in the future and the mixture of expendable spacecraft and the shuttle for upcoming missions. While it only took a few days to determine the technical reason for the accident, sorting out the root cause was more difficult. In the end, it took Truly and NASA's "return to flight" program 31 months before the space shuttle Discovery successfully flew on September 29, 1988 with STS-26. In March 1986, Truly noted in a memo that there were several actions NASA needed to accomplish before launching another shuttle. They included "Solid Rocket Motor joint redesign, Critical Items review, and Operations and Maintenance Instructions review".

Truly was named to head NASA as its eighth administrator in May 1989. He held this position until May 1992. He retired from the Navy as a vice admiral shortly before becoming NASA administrator.

fter leaving NASA, Adm. Truly became Vice President and Director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute, part of the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, Georgia. He served in this role from 1992 - 1997. Then he served as Director of the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and as Executive Vice President of Midwest Research Institute from 1997-2005.

In May 2007, Retired Vice Admiral Richard Truly testified before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations as a member of a military advisory board on the subject of the threats to U.S. national security posed by global climate change. Truly is married and has three children.

His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legions of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Meritorious Service Medal. His NASA awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, two NASA Space Flight Medals, and two NASA Exceptional Service Medals.

In 1988, he was awarded the Society of Experimental Test Pilots James H. Doolittle Award. He also received that year the Collier Trophy for his role in assisting NASA's return to launching manned missions after the Challenger disaster. In January 1989, Truly was presented the Presidential Citizen's Medal by President Ronald Reagan.

SPECIAL HONORS: Decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legion of Merit, Navy Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Meritorious Service Award. His NASA awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, two NASA Space Flight Medals, and two NASA Exceptional Service Medals. He is also the recipient of the Air Force Association’s David C. Shilling Award (1978), Society of Experimental Test Pilot’s Ivan C. Kincheloe Award (1978), the American Astronautical Society’s Flight Achievement Award (1977), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Haley Space Flight Award (1980), the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy (1982), the Thomas D. White Space Trophy (1982), the Robert J. Collier Trophy (1982), the Harmon International Trophy (1982), the Federation Aeronautique Internationale Gold Space Medal (1984), the Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Eagle Scout Award , and the Medal of Honor of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution..

Admiral Richard Truly on leadership
Posted: June 18, 2012

Retired as a vice admiral after a Navy career of 30 years, Richard Truly can speak about leadership from a remarkable perspective. He began his career after earning a degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. After distinguished service as a naval aviator, Admiral Truly became one of the first military astronauts. He piloted the Space Shuttle Columbia and was commander of the Space Shuttle Challenger. He left NASA to become the first commander of the Naval Space Command. Called back to NASA, Admiral Truly led the accident investigation and rebuilding of the space shuttle program following the Challenger accident, then served as the eighth administrator of NASA. Later Admiral Truly served as vice president of the Georgia Institute of Technology and director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute and then as director of the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In addition to numerous professional awards, recognitions from NASA and many military decorations, Admiral Truly was awarded the Presidential Citizen’s Medal by President Ronald Reagan. He serves on many boards, including the Colorado School of Mines Board of Trustees as vice chairman. John Poate, vice president of research and technology transfer at Mines, interviewed Admiral Truly in the lobby of Maple Hall on the Mines campus.

SOURCE: Colorado School of Mines