Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School Public Lecture

Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden, Jr. (USMC-ret.), was the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under President Barack Obama and is a former astronaut. NASA’s achievements under Bolden include an unprecedented landing on Mars with the Curiosity rover, launch of a spacecraft to Jupiter, and continued progress toward the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Bolden was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 12th administrator of NASA. He began his duties as head of the agency in July 2009 and retired from NASA on Jan. 20, 2017. At NASA, Bolden oversaw the safe transition from 30 years of Space Shuttle missions to a new era of exploration, focused on full utilization of the International Space Station and space and aeronautics technology development. Bolden’s 34-year distinguished career with the Marine Corps included 14 years as a member of NASA’s Astronaut Office. After joining the office in 1980, he traveled to orbit four times aboard the Space Shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions and piloting two others. He retired from the Marine Corps in 2003. Bolden’s past honors include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, three NASA Exceptional Service Medals and four NASA Space Flight Medals. He received the National Space Trophy in 2014. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006 and enshrined into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in October 2017. Bolden will be speaking as part of the G. S. Beckwith Gilbert ’63 Lecture Series.