David W. Garrett
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                                            
July 7, 1992
(Phone:  202/453-8400)

RELEASE:  92-103

 ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR RUSSIAN PROGRAMS APPOINTED

     NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin today announced the 
appointment of Samuel W. Keller as Associate Administrator for 
Russian Programs.  The new function is being established within 
the Office of the Administrator and will give focus to the many 
programs involving NASA and the former Soviet Union.

     "NASA is actively pursuing opportunities for expanded 
cooperation in space activities with Russia.  This area of 
international cooperation is critical and warrants creation of 
this new position.  Sam Keller has the kind of experience 
necessary to ensure that our relationship with the Russian space 
program is beneficial to both sides.  He will be responsible for 
overall coordination of the NASA program relating to cooperative 
endeavors with the Russian space program," Goldin said.

     Keller has served as Associate Deputy Administrator, NASA 
Headquarters, since May 1989.  In that position he was the focal 
point for resolving institutional management and policy issues 
and provided agency leadership on US/Russian cooperative ventures 
carried out under agreements between the two governments.

     Keller began his NASA career at the Goddard Space Flight 
Center,Greenbelt, Md., in 1960.  After holding various managment 
positions, he was named the Director of Administration and 
Managment in 1972.  In 1975, he transferred to NASA Headquarters 
and in 1981, was appointed Deputy Associate Administrator for the 
newly combined Office of Space Science and Applications.  In that 
position he concentrated on the development of major space flight 
systems including the Hubble Space Telescope, Galileo, Magellan, 
the Gamma Ray Observatory and the Cosmic Background Explorer.

     Before joining NASA, Keller held positions at the Naval 
Research Laboratory, the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns 
Hopkins University, RCA Laboratories and the Office of Naval 
Research.  He served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force from 1956 
through 1959.

     He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical 
Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of 
Laws degree from George Washington University.
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     Keller was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 
1969, the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive in 1983 and 
1990 and both the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive 
and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1985.
                                     

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