Mark Hess
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                                
March 30, 1992
(Phone:  202/453-4164)


Release:  92-41

Lenoir ANNOUNCES PLANS TO LEAVE NASA


     Dr. William B. Lenoir, NASA's Associate Administrator for 
Space Flight, today submitted his letter of resignation to NASA 
Administrator Richard H. Truly, to be effective May 4.

     Following an earlier assignment at NASA as a scientist 
astronaut, Lenoir returned as Associate Administrator for Space 
Station Freedom in May 1989.  In July of that year, he was also 
named to lead the Office of Space Flight and later directed the 
consolidation of the two offices.  He managed the combined 
reorganization until the creation of the Office of Space Systems 
Development in September 1991.

     "Bill has had not one but two distinguished careers in the 
space program, and made a tremendous personal sacrifice to return 
to NASA in 1989," said Truly.  "At the time I asked him to come 
back to NASA, he told me he could only commit to stay for about 3 
years.  In that short time, Bill has done an absolutely superb job 
in managing our space programs and the manned space flight 
centers.  He's made a significant personal and professional 
contribution, and the NASA team wishes him the best of success in 
the future." 

     During Lenoir's tenure as Associate Administrator for Space 
Flight, NASA safely and successfully launched the Space Shuttle 17 
times and completed a major restructuring of the Space Station 
Freedom program, reducing its development costs by $6 billion, 
simplifying its subsystems and improving its on-orbit assembly 
process. 

     "It's been a rewarding 3 years," said Lenoir.  "I'm 
particularly proud of the way the NASA team has conducted manned 
space flight activities during the time I've been here.  We have 
continued to improve the operation of the Shuttle program and have 
put the program on track for continued improvements.  This will 
mean that NASA can devote more of its resources to new and 
exciting research and development efforts in the years ahead."

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     Lenoir first joined NASA in 1967 as an astronaut.  He served 
as a backup  astronaut for the Skylab 3 and 4 missions and flew as 
a mission specialist on STS-5, the first operational mission of 
the Space Shuttle.  Lenoir left NASA in 1984 to join Booze, Allen 
and Hamilton where he was Vice President and a member of the board 
of directors.

     Born in Miami, Fla., Lenoir received a B.S. in 1961, a M.S. 
in 1962 and a Ph.D. in 1965 in Electrical Engineering from the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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