William F. Readdy

From 1974 to 2005, William F. Readdy served the United States as a naval aviator, pilot astronaut, military officer, and civil service executive. In 2005, Mr. Readdy established Discovery Partners, International LLC, a consulting firm to provide strategic planning, risk management, safety and emerging technology solutions to aerospace and high-tech industries.
He served as a test pilot and instructor between carrier deployments to the North Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mr. Readdy joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1986 and in 1987 became a member of the astronaut corps, but continued his military service in the Naval Reserve, attaining the rank of captain before retiring in 2000.

Mr. Readdy logged more than 672 hours in space on three shuttle missions. He commanded his third flight, docking space shuttle Atlantis at the Russian space station Mir in 1996 and oversaw the first exchange of American astronaut researchers living aboard the Russian outpost.

In 2001, Mr. Readdy was appointed as NASA’s associate administrator for space operations and moved to Washington D.C. Following the loss of space shuttle Columbia in February 2003, Mr. Readdy chaired NASA’s Space Flight Leadership Council, and oversaw the agency’s recovery from the accident and the shuttle’s successful return to flight in July 2005.

Mr. Readdy was honored as a Meritorious Rank Executive by President Bush in 2003 and in 2005 was awarded NASA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal for the second time. He has also been the recipient of NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal three times and the Exceptional Service Medal twice. In addition he is the recipient of numerous national and international aviation and space awards, and has been recognized for his contributions to aerospace safety.