THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 3, 1996 TAG: 9607030522
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: 71 lines
The director of NASA's Langley Research Center announced Tuesday that he will step down no later than October.
Paul F. Holloway said he is leaving the senior post to clear the way for a director willing to make a long-term commitment to the center.
``It's an excellent time to leave and let someone who's willing to make the commitment to see the center through'' the next few years of restructuring, Holloway said. ``I'm not willing to make that commitment.''
No replacement was named immediately.
The Langley Research Center faces a trying future as the space agency restructures and shrinking budgets force job and program cuts. NASA announced a five-year restructuring program last year to slash billions from its budget and thousands from its payroll.
The Hampton facility's future is assured. As part of NASA's restructuring it was named the ``lead center'' for aeronautics research, particularly for programs related to high-speed flight. Aerospace companies, working with the center, are trying to develop an economically viable, supersonic airliner. It will also help build the eventual replacement for the space shuttle with Lockheed Martin Corp., which won that contract Tuesday.
Langley is in ``a position of exceptional strength in all our areas of research,'' Holloway said.
Still, by 2000, the Langley center will pare its civil servant work force by 200 - to a little more than 2,000. Its full-time contractor employment will by slashed from 2,000 today to just over 900.
After the November elections, NASA budgets could come under even more pressure, Holloway said.
Holloway, a 58-year-old native of Poquoson, said he's uncertain what he might do. He might continue to work for NASA for a few years, he could retire or he could become involved in some intergovernmental project related to the research done at Langley, he said.
He publicly considered taking a NASA buyout last year before the details of the agency's restructuring were announced. He decided to stay as long as he felt he could contribute something.
The past year wasn't easy. The impasse over the federal budget forced NASA to shut down twice, frustrating employees, interrupting experiments and costing outside contractors money.
``Working for the federal government was supposed to be the top job security in the country,'' Holloway said in March as another shutdown loomed. ``That's gone. You can't count on anything. I can't tell you if I'll be in on Monday.''
He was, but in a few months he won't be.
The shutdowns weren't the basis of his decision to leave, but, he said, ``I look forward to not having to worry about that.''
He said the decision was the result of a confluence of a lot of things, including his 40th anniversary and 40th high school reunion.
It also wasn't easy, he said. ``This has been my life for so many years, and I have made many friends,'' he said.
Holloway went to work at the Langley Research Center in 1960 as an aerospace research engineer after graduating from Virginia Tech. Working primarily on the space side of the agency, he moved up steadily through the center's ranks.
He wrote 42 technical pieces dealing with hypersonic aerodynamics and other aspects of orbital and planetary space missions.
He became the center's deputy director in 1985 and its director in 1991.
``Paul Holloway will be missed,'' said NASA administrator Daniel S. Goldin in a prepared statement. ``His career spans almost the entire history of the space age, and his many achievements at Langley are a tribute to his talent, his professionalism and his dedication to the importance of NASA aeronautical programs.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Paul F. Holloway by CNB