Jay F. Honeycutt

BS Electrical and Computer Engineering – 1960
Director of NASA Kennedy Space Center
President of Lockheed Martin Space Operations Company

Originally from Jena, LA, Jay earned his engineering degree from USL (now UL Lafayette). After serving in the US Army, Jay began his civilian career at the US Army Redstone Arsenal as an electrical engineer in the Guidance and Control Laboratory. He then moved to NASA in Houston and held increasingly responsible positions in the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle Programs. He transferred to the Kennedy Space Center assuming responsibility for all aspects of the Center’s Space Shuttle Launch and Landing Operations where he retired as Director of the Space Center. While at NASA, he was a member of the Apollo XIII Mission Operations Team that was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and he coordinated the Presidential Commission and Congressional investigations into the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. Jay served on numerous boards including the United Space Alliance, International Space University, Institute of Nuclear Power Operations Advisory Council and several space startup companies. His accomplishments have been acknowledged with several awards including Fellow in the American Astronautical Society, Robert R. Gilruth Award, NASA leadership medals and the National Space Club’s Werner von Braun Trophy. He also received the UL Lafayette Outstanding Alumni award in 1999.