Andy Stofan, Former NASA Lewis Center Director and Space Station AA Passes Away – SpacePolicyOnline.com

Andy Stofan, who was Director of Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center after which headed the area station program at NASA headquarters within the mid-Nineteen Eighties, handed away on October 26, 2025. He was 90.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Stofan graduated from Hiram College close to Cleveland in 1957 with a bachelor’s diploma in math and physics and in 1958 from Carnegie Mellon University with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering. He instantly joined Lewis Laboratory simply months earlier than it grew to become a part of the nation’s new area company, NASA, which opened its doorways on October 1, 1958. Lewis Laboratory was renamed Lewis Research Center.

He spent nearly all of his 30-year NASA profession at Lewis beginning as a researcher in propellant administration. During the Nineteen Sixties and Seventies, he led the Titan/Centaur challenge, then was Director of the Launch Vehicles Directorate.

In 1978 he moved to NASA Headquarters as Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of Space Science, and in 1981 was appointed Acting Associate Administrator for the brand new Office of Space Science and Applications.

He returned to Lewis in 1982 as Center Director. In 2016, the Center (by then renamed Glenn Research Center) inducted Stofan into its Hall of Fame. A tribute on the Center’s web site notes that on the time he grew to become Director, the Center had suffered by a decade of downsizing and cutbacks and “Congress had nearly closed the center down just prior” to his arrival. He issued the Center’s first strategic plan in December 1982 that led to Lewis main the Shuttle-Centaur and Space Station energy system applications.

Stofan had a legendary profession with many highlights. His cryogenic fluid administration work was vital to the Nineteen Sixties area program, his administration of the launch automobiles efforts led to main NASA successes within the Seventies, and his administration of NASA’s area science and area station efforts impacted the company. Stofan, nonetheless, considers his 4 years as middle director his most necessary. In that function, he not solely offered the hope that was wanted to hold on, however empowered employees with the arrogance wanted to create their very own profitable future. His beneficiant mentoring, cooperative administration strategy, and management fashion empowered the employees to not solely have a imaginative and prescient however to inspire everybody to contribute to the imaginative and prescient. Beyond his adept administration abilities, it was this “can-do” angle, confidence, and skill to construct relationships that basically made him a frontrunner. In addition, a technology of youthful managers integrated Stofan’s managerial philosophy and abilities into their work. The middle remains to be feeling the results of Stofan’s legacy at this time. — Tribute to Andy Stofan by Glenn Research Center in 2016

After 4 years as Center Director, he was known as again to Headquarters in August 1986, this time to take cost of the nascent area station program as Associate Administrator. Begun by President Ronald Reagan in January 1984, this system was going by tough instances not solely due to funding challenges, however the January 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy, which killed all seven crew members, was inflicting NASA to take a more in-depth take a look at the area station’s design.

Stofan retired from NASA in 1988 and went to work for Martin Marietta Astronautics as Vice President of Advanced Launch Systems and of Technical Operations. In 1991 he grew to become President of Analex Corporation in Cleveland that offered engineering and administration companies to Lewis, after which was director of Electro-Optical Systems for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company.

Stofan is survived by his spouse of 70 years Barbara, daughters Lynn Kaplan and Ellen Stofan, 5 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  Ellen is a planetary geologist and was NASA’s Chief Scientist from 2013-2016. She was Director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum from 2018 to 2021 and now could be the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Science and Research.

Last Updated: Nov 06, 2025 10:53 pm ET