Dr. Donald P. Hearth

Dr. Donald P. Hearth served as NASA Langley Research Center’s fourth director from September 26, 1975 to November 30, 1984. Prior to his work at Langley, Hearth was Deputy Director at the Goddard Space Flight Center starting in 1970, and was Director of Planetary Programs at NASA Headquarters from 1967 to 1970, responsible for managing NASA’s planetary exploration programs and initiating programs to explore Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. From 1962 to 1967, he was Manager of Advanced Programs for Lunar and Planetary Programs at NASA Headquarters. Between 1957 and 1962, he worked for the Marquardt Corporation as manager of hypersonic propulsion research projects and manager of the Hypersonic Research Projects Department.

Hearth began his career in July 1951 as an aeronautical engineer at the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. He did analytical and experimental research on air inductions and exhaust systems for supersonic turbojet and ramjet applications.

Hearth is a native of Fall River, Mass., and earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University in 1951. He has done post-graduate work at the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, and he is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute.

He was awarded the Rank of Meritorious Executive by President Carter in 1980, and the Rank of Distinguished Executive by President Reagan in 1981.

He has been awarded two honorary doctoral degrees: Doctor of Science from George Washington University in 1978 and Doctor of Engineering from Northeastern University in 1982. He received the Outstanding Alumni
Award in the field of science and technology from Northeastern University in October of 1984.

Hearth’s NASA awards include: the agency’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal, 1975; the Exceptional Service Medal, 1969, the Executive Performance Award, 1975; and the Equal Opportunity Medal, 1981.