Aerospace announces changes to its board of trustees

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (Dec. 14, 2010) -- Alan Wade and Daniel Hastings were elected to The Aerospace Corporation's board of trustees on Dec. 9. Nelson Gibbs retired from the board effective Dec. 10.

Wade served in a number of senior positions in his 35-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency, retiring at the end of 2005 as the CIA's chief information officer. In this assignment he also served as chief information officer for the U.S. intelligence community. During his tenure at the CIA, he also held the positions of director of communications and director of security, among other posts.

Wade has worked with a number of early-stage companies since retiring, including serving on the boards of Safeboot N.V. (acquired by McAfee in 2007) and Detica DFI (acquired by BAE Systems in 2008). At present, he serves on the boards of Composite Software Inc. in San Mateo, California, and Chiliad Inc., in Washington, D.C. Wade also serves on public sector advisory boards, including the Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech, the Advisory Board for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Virginia Tech, and on the board of the organization of retired CIA officers.

Wade is a recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Director's Medal, and the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.

He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia, in 1973 and a master's degree in electrical engineering from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Hastings is a professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering systems at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the dean of undergraduate education.

He served as chief scientist of the Air Force from 1997 to 1999, fulfilling the role of chief scientific adviser to the chief of staff and the secretary and providing assessments on a wide range of scientific and technical issues affecting the Air Force mission. Hastings previously worked for Physical Sciences Inc. and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the fields of laser-material interactions and fusion plasma physics.

Among other roles, Hastings has served as chairman of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and as a member of the Defense Science Board and the National Science Board. Hastings has served as a member of the NASA Advisory Committee and the NASA Space Science Advisory Committee. He was also a member and chair of the National Research Council's Committee on Advanced Space Technology, a member of the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, and a member of the Defense Research and Engineering director's technical area review of the Defense Department's work in space technology.

Hastings has been awarded a number of national awards, including the Air Force Exceptional Service Award, the QEM Giant in Science Award, the NRO Distinguished Civilian Award, the AIAA Losey Award, the National Guard Bureau Eagle Award, and was twice awarded the Air Force Distinguished Civilian Award.

Hastings earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Oxford University in 1976, and a Ph.D. from MIT in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1980.

Hastings previously served on the board from 2000 to 2009. He left the board in 2009 after serving the maximum number of consecutive terms allowed and was eligible for reelection at the end of 2010.

Gibbs is a former assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics. He was elected to the board in 2005 and was chairman of the Audit Committee.

Contact Pam Keeton, 703-812-0648 or Pamela.V.Keeton@aero.org.