Millennium Magazine_4th Ed

181 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine N ot many people get to say that they worked for some of the most important missions in space expedition, but Robert James Wren is one of those people. Mr. Wren has worked for NASA since 1962 in various positions. Most recently, he was the manager and engineering director in vehicle and payload flight system safety from 1995 to 2000. Mr. Wren was also the manager of the Apollo Spacecraft 2TV-1 CSM Test Program in 1967 and 1968 and the manager of the Apollo Lunar Module-2 Drop Test Program in 1968 and 1969. Mr. Wren knew from a young age he wanted to be an engineer because of his father, who worked in the heavy construction industry. In 1956, Mr. Wren graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BSCE, and he received an MSCE in 1962 from Southern Methodist University. He was also a doctoral candidate at the University of Houston and he is a lifetime member of the University of Texas’ Exes Association. Mr. Wren said the most exciting time during his tenure at NASA was the Apollo mission and the determination to put a man on the moon. He described the highlight of his career, and the most important mission, as being the Apollo 8. The mentor who motivated and inspired him prior to the important years at NASA was Haskell Nolan at General Dynamics. Mr. Wren would advise others aspiring to work in his industry to do what Mr. Nolan told him to do: work hard and make sure to study mathematics and science. Mr. Wren took that advice, which lead him to multiple accolades. He was the recipient of the Sustained Superior Performance Award at NASA and received a personal letter of commendation from the George Low NASA Apollo Program. He is a lifetime member of the NASA Alumni Association. Mr. Wren has also been a member of the Space Center Rotary, the Rotary Space Memorial Foundation, and the Rotary World Health Foundation for Plastic Surgery for Children. He is also a Paul Harris Fellow, Floyd Boze Fellow and member and co-founder of the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation. ROBERT JAMES WREN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING MANAGER NASA Johnson Space Center Friendswood, TX ENERGY, ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING