A leader and pioneer in space life sciences, Ken Souza, passed away suddenly on March 22, 2016. Over his fifty years at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, Souza was an exemplary leader and visionary in the advancement of gravitational and space biology as a research scientist, administrator and mentor. His NASA science career started in 1966, conducting one of the center’s earliest life science spaceflight experiments on Gemini 11. In 1992, his frog egg experiment on SpaceLab-J provided the first evidence that a vertebrate species can reproduce in the absence of gravity. In addition to his scientific discoveries, Souza provided the leadership that led to the establishment of space life sciences as a field of research both nationally and internationally. From the 1970s through the 2000s, Souza fostered U.S./Russian collaborative scientific missions on Russian Foton and Bion spacecraft, which established fruitful research ties between scientists from the two countries. Within NASA, he took on growing leadership roles, culminating with him becoming the acting director of Astrobiology and Space Research in 2001. In this role, he was responsible for all Earth, space and life sciences research at NASA Ames.
Souza made it possible so that hundreds of space biology experiments would be performed on the space shuttle, shuttle-Mir, and the International Space Station. When NASA biological research was curtailed due to cuts in funding in the mid-2000s, Souza worked tirelessly to maintain a small flight science program to continue space biology flights on the space shuttle. The recent resurgence of space biology as a research discipline is due in no small part from Souza’s many contributions. Souza was a lifetime active member of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology (now called the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research) from its inception and served as its president in 2007. He remained active and highly engaged in space biology up to his passing, including developing new programs to study life in deep space and at altered gravity levels, and providing training and mentorship to the next generation of space biology scientists and administrators. Our deepest condolences to the Souza family, and our thanks and gratitude for sharing him with us. His dedication and passion for science and space biology will live on through all of us.