By Jim Cawley
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
As a member of the Central Florida Council of the National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) committee, Bill Gnan always has his eye out for deserving NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout award candidates. He didn’t have to look far for his most recent nomination; in fact, one evening last year, he was seated at the same table.
In June 2017, Gnan and his wife, Bobbi Gnan, who serves as chief of the Launch Services Program (LSP) Business Office at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, attended a United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) appointee brunch in Orlando. Their son is a cadet at the USAFA. The keynote speaker at the event was Kennedy associate director and USAFA graduate Kelvin Manning, whom the Gnans learned also is an Eagle Scout. The nomination for the NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award was a no-brainer.
“Kelvin has always had the whole package of being a really good family man, having risen to the highest level of his career and having done so much in the community,” Bill Gnan said. “He’s a class act.”
Bill Gnan submitted the nomination paperwork in February. Manning was selected in May, and then honored the following month as one of six recipients of the 2018 NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award for the Boy Scouts of America’s Central Florida Council. The ceremony took place on June 1 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando. Again, the Gnans were in attendance.
“I was really proud to be a part of it,” Bobbi Gnan said. “Kelvin won the award, but the space center was getting recognized, too.”
With a little help from his own wife, as well as Manning’s wife, Judy, and secretary, Debbie Douglass, Bill Gnan was able to keep the nomination a secret. So his phone call notifying Manning that he’d won the prestigious award certainly was unexpected.
“He was kind of stunned. It came as a total surprise,” Bill Gnan said. “When he sincerely thanked me, I knew that meant he was really touched.”
To be considered for an Outstanding Eagle Scout Award, candidates must be Eagle Scouts who have made significant contributions to their profession and/or their community. They also are known to inspire others through their actions. Bobbi Gnan, who has had multiple opportunities to work with Manning over the years, has experienced this firsthand.
“Kelvin is a real kind and humble person — a fabulous role model,” she said. “He lets people know that he cares about them.”
Douglass said Manning is always approachable and personable, pointing to his penchant for knowing people by name, even after one encounter.
“He is very much respected and admired because he takes time to invest in others,” Douglass said. “He is always positive and makes the best of any day, no matter how many challenges he faces.”
Manning, who began his career at Kennedy in 1992, earned his Eagle Scout in Maryland in 1974. He graduated with a B.S. from the USAFA, and earned an M.S. in engineering management from the University of Central Florida. He completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Manning has received several awards, including the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the astronauts’ Silver Snoopy Award, National Black Engineer of the Year Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement in Government, NASA Public Service Award, and the Department of Defense Joint Service Commendation Medal.