For release: July 2, 1996

Michael Finneran
(804) 864-6121/23

RELEASE NO. 96-068

NASA LANGLEY DIRECTOR PAUL F. HOLLOWAY TO STEP DOWN

1 P.M. NEWS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR JULY 2

Paul F. Holloway has announced he is stepping down as director of NASA Langley Research Center no later than early October 1996. Holloway said that although he is leaving his post as center director, he may remain in federal service but has yet to decide his future plans.

Holloway said he is stepping down now to allow the appointment of a center director who could make a longer-term commitment to steering NASA Langley through challenges facing the agency the rest of the decade.

"This is the lull before the November election, and after that NASA Langley is going to need the services of a center director who is willing to stick around for a while," said Holloway, a NASA Langley employee since the beginning of his aerospace career in June 1960. "Everyone knows I have been considering leaving shortly, and this is a good time to do it."

"Paul Holloway will be missed," said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. "His career spans almost the entire history of the Space Age, and his many achievements at Langley are a tribute to his talent, his professionalism and his dedication to the importance of NASA aeronautical programs. We wish him all the best in the future."

The 58-year-old Poquoson native said stepping down is not easy. "This has been my life for so many years, and I have made many friends. But I am confident that the wonderful people of Langley will carry on the reputation of this center as a world-class facility."

Holloway was named center director in October 1991 and is the sixth since Langley was founded in 1917 as the nation's first civilian aeronautical research laboratory. Langley has about 4,500 civil service and contractor employees and a $633.8-million fiscal 1996 budget.

Since joining NASA at Langley, Holloway has seen his career advance steadily. He has worked primarily on the space side of the research center and contributed directly to the development of the space shuttle.

In addition, Holloway has represented Langley on numerous space station, shuttle and space transportation committees and boards and served three high-level tours of duty at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Holloway specialized in hypersonic aerodynamics, boundary layer transition and flow separation, analysis of entry flight mechanics and Earth orbital and planetary space missions. He has written 42 technical publications in his fields of expertise.

Holloway began his NASA career at Langley in June 1960 as an aerospace research engineer. He was appointed head of the Systems Analysis Section, Aero-Physics Division, in 1969; head of the Aerospace Operations Analysis Branch, Space Systems Division, in 1971; and chief of the Space Systems Division in 1972. In May 1975, Holloway became director for space.

In February 1985, he was named deputy director of Langley.

Holloway has earned numerous awards, including the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal, the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Service, and two Senior Executive Service Distinguished Presidential Rank Awards.

He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Astronautical Society, and is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Holloway graduated from Poquoson High School in Virginia in 1956 as salutatorian and has a bachelor of science degree and honors in aeronautical engineering from The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He also pursued some graduate study in physics at the College of William and Mary.

He and his wife, the former Barbara Menetch, live in Poquoson and have one son, Eric Scott, who lives in the same city.

Holloway will hold a news conference to answer media questions at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 2, at the NASA Langley Newsroom in Building 1202 on North Dryden St.

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