09 12 06

Dean Acosta/David E Steitz Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1898/1730

RELEASE: 06-314

NASA NAMES PARSONS NEW KENNEDY SPACE CENTER DIRECTOR

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin today named William (Bill) W Parsons the new director of the agency's Kennedy Space Center, Fla , effective in January 2007 Parsons succeeds James W Kennedy, who is retiring

Parsons currently serves as deputy director of NASA Kennedy Space Center, a position he has held since February

As space shuttle program manager, Parsons led the return-to-flight activities for the agency and played a major role in the success of the Discovery STS-114 mission His first stint as NASA's Stennis Space Center director, Stennis, Miss , came in August 2002 He was first assigned to Stennis in 1997 as the chief of operations of the Propulsion Test Directorate Parsons relocated to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to become the director of the Center Operations Directorate He later served as the deputy director of Johnson He returned to Stennis in 2001 and served as director of the Center Operations and Support Directorate

In 1990, Parsons joined the NASA team at Kennedy Space Center as a launch site support manager in the Shuttle Operations Directorate He also worked as an executive management intern and later as the shuttle flow director of the Shuttle Operations Directorate at Kennedy In 1996, he became manager of the Space Station Hardware Integration Office at the center

Parsons has received numerous honors, including the Presidential Rank Award (Meritorious Executive); NASA's Exceptional Service Medal and Distinguished Service Medal; and the Silver Snoopy, awarded by astronauts for outstanding performance in flight safety and mission success

Parsons holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Mississippi and a master's degree in engineering management from the University of Central Florida

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