Gerald Griffin

Bio

Mr. Griffin is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he earned a Bachelor Degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award of Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M University College of Engineering Alumni Honor Award, the Tau Beta Pi Eminent Engineer Award, and the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor Award. Mr. Griffin is a Past President of the Texas A&M University 12th Man Foundation and holds the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Houston Clear Lake. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Astronautical Society.

Mr. Griffin is the former Director of the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. His career in the United States space program began in 1960 and included senior positions in government and industry. At NASA, in addition to his position as Director of the Johnson Space Center, he also served as the Deputy Director of the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Hugh F. Dryden Flight Research Center in California. Mr. Griffin also held the posts of Associate Administrator for External Relations and Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. In the private sector, he held senior engineering posts with Lockheed and General Dynamics.

After taking early retirement from NASA in 1986, Mr. Griffin was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Houston Chamber of Commerce, a post he held until 1989 when he joined Korn/Ferry International, a worldwide executive search firm, as the Managing Director of the firm's Houston office. Today, Mr. Griffin is a technical and management consultant for a broad range of clients. He remains a Senior Consultant for Korn/Ferry International where he conducts search assignments for very senior level executives. Mr. Griffin is currently a director and former Chairman of the Board of Comarco, Inc., Irvine, California, a public corporation traded on NASDAQ, and a director of the Bank of the Hills N.A., Kerrville, Texas. He is a former trustee of the Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, Maryland, and a former member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

During NASA's Apollo Program, Mr. Griffin was a Flight Director in Mission Control and served in this capacity for all of the Apollo manned missions. He was Lead Flight Director for three lunar landing missions: Apollo's 12, 15 and 17. During the flight of Apollo 13, Mr. Griffin was scheduled to lead the lunar landing team in Mission Control. When the landing was canceled after the oxygen tank explosion, he led one of the teams of flight controllers who were responsible for the safe return of the astronauts. This real life experience led to Mr. Griffin being a technical advisor for the movie Apollo 13 (Universal). Later he was a technical advisor for and an actor in Contact (Warner Brothers) and Deep Impact, (Dreamworks/SKG). Mr. Griffin is a member of the Screen Actors Guild.