David Dress '81

My wife Catharine, and I have lived in Yorktown, Virginia, since we were married in 1981. Catharine graduated from Radford University in speech and language pathology in 1980 and I graduated from Virginia Tech in aerospace and ocean engineering in 1981. We have two sons Jason and Brian, who are both engineering graduates from Virginia Tech, and our daughter-in-law Emily is also an engineering graduate from Virginia Tech. Jason and Emily have two children Nora and Ben, who provide a great deal of joy to our lives as grandparents. We have loved living in Yorktown, enjoying golfing, gardening, and traveling. However, we love the mountains and enjoy getting back to Blacksburg for football and basketball games as well as the Steppin Out Festival. Last year, we bought a house in Montgomery County that will be our future retirement home.

I am the director of the Space Technology and Exploration directorate at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. In this role, I lead the directorate in creating, advocating, managing, and executing a diverse portfolio of projects supporting the agency’s Space Technology and Human Exploration and Operations Mission directorates. In addition, I am the center programmatic lead for advanced manufacturing, ensuring that structures and materials expertise is utilized for both NASA’s and broader manufacturing needs. 

I’ve had a long successful career at NASA spanning work with the Level II Constellation program activities, and as the lead for the Mission and Technical Integration group at the Johnson Space Center in Systems Engineering and Integration for Constellation. I’ve received numerous awards including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2012 (Exceptional Leadership and Contributions to Aeronautics and Human Exploration). In addition, I have published over 40 papers and am an Associate Fellow in the AIAA [American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]. In addition to my bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech, I also earned a master’s degree in fluid mechanics and thermal sciences from George Washington University.