R. Rhoads Stephenson
Dr. Stephenson received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
He then spent one year in the Energy Conversion Lab of the Nuclear Division of the Martin Marietta Corporation in Baltimore, MD. There he did research on MHD and Thermionic Energy conversion.
He then served two years as a U. S. Army Officer. He was assigned to JPL where he worked on electric propulsion and mission studies.
In 1964, he joined JPL and worked in electric propulsion, advanced mission studies, tracking and orbit determination, and became Section Manager of the Systems Analysis Section. This Section was responsible for advanced space mission studies, and the analysis and modeling of civil sector projects in the fields of energy, environment, and transportation. He headed a 2-year study of alternative automotive engines.
In 1978 he took a 3-year leave of absence to serve as Associate Administrator for R&D for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation. In this capacity, he was responsible for auto safety research and economic analysis to support the Federal Fuel Economy Standards.
Upon his return to JPL in 1981, he became Deputy and then Manager of the Electronics and Control Division. This Division is responsible for space flight subsystems in power, attitude control and pointing, command and telemetry handling, and flight computers. It also executes extensive supporting research programs in the above areas as well as in microelectronics and robotics.
In 1991, Dr. Stephenson became Deputy Director for Technology and Applications Programs and in 1995, Acting Director. This office is responsible for the technology development work done by JPL, and for applications of that technology to the problems of non NASA sponsors. He retired from JPL in August 1998.
Since leaving JPL he has been consulting in areas of space technology and automotive safety. Since November 2001 he has been a member of the Board of the Motor Vehicle Fire Research Institute, and also a consultant to that organization.