posted 04-25-2020 06:00 PM               

NASA Administrator Statement on Passing of Former Administrator James Beggs

The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on the passing of the agency's sixth administrator, James Beggs, on April 23, 2020. Mr. Beggs served as NASA administrator from July 1981 to December 1985.

"NASA sends its condolences to the family of James Beggs. Mr. Beggs led the agency during the earliest days of the Space Shuttle Program and helped us open a whole new era of exploration. We continue to build on his legacy today as we take advantage of our long-term presence in low-Earth orbit to make the advances to travel farther, and seed an entirely new segment of the economy through the innovations of commercial partners.

"Mr. Beggs also served his country in the U.S. Navy and supported NASA's achievements during the Apollo era during an agency tenure in the late 1960s. His legacy guided the shuttle program toward its three decades of achievements and set the stage for a diverse and flexible astronaut corps from which we continue to benefit. We salute his service and will continue to honor his contributions to our great agency."

James Montgomery Beggs was nominated by President Reagan on June 1, 1981, to become Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He was the sixth individual to head the nation's civilian space agency. Beggs took his oath of office as head of the agency and entered the new post on July 10, 1981. He served until December 4, 1985, when he took an indefinite leave of absense pending disposition of an indictment from the Justice Department for activities taking place prior to his tenure at NASA. This indictment was later dismissed and the U.S. Attorney General apologized to Mr. Beggs for any embarrassment. His resignation from NASA was effective on February 25, 1986.

Prior to his appointment as NASA administrator Beggs had been Executive Vice President and a director of General Dynamics Corp., St. Louis, Missouri. Previously he had served with NASA in 1968-1969 as Associate Administrator, Office of Advanced Research and Technology. From 1969 to 1973, he was Under Secretary of Transportation. He went to Summa Corp., Los Angeles, California, as Managing Director, Operations and joined General Dynamics in January 1974. Before joining NASA, he had been with Westinghouse Electric Corp., in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland, for thirteen years.

A 1947 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he served with the Navy until 1954. In 1955, he received a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of the National Space Club and the American Astronautical Society; his other professional affiliations include the National Academy of Public Administration, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society of Naval Engineers, and Sigma Tau.

Mr. Beggs was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 9, 1926. He married Mary Harrison, and they had five children. Since leaving NASA, Mr. Beggs has worked as a consultant from his offices in Bethesda, Maryland.