9th ANNUAL Alumni and COMMUNITY CELEBRATION

LINDA HAUTZINGER-HAM

Human Landing System Government Task Agreement Integrator  
Johnson Space Center, NASA

During her NASA career, Linda Hautzinger-Ham has been a trailblazer. She pioneered a path for women engineers through her roles as the first female Propulsion Officer in NASA’s Mission Control Center, first female Systems Division Section Head, first and only female Manager of Space Shuttle Program Integration and Manager of Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration and, perhaps her proudest achievement, first female Flight Director – the Leader of Mission Control.

Linda has served as the Flight Director on fourteen Space Shuttle missions during launch, orbit, and re-entry mission phases. Thereafter, she managed Space Shuttle Program integration for the multibillion-dollar national program, which employed 19,000 contractor and civil service employees.

Linda earned three NASA medals for exceptional service, numerous awards, and two NASA fellowships. She served as a member of the federal government’s Senior Executive Service (SES) for over 20 years of her career.

Notably, Linda received a special appointment to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and served to expand the utilization of clean energy across the nation. Linda founded the Technology Collaboration Center and serves on the Board of Directors. She chaired the Federal Laboratories Group within the Innovative Research Interchange and was an active member of the Federal Laboratory Consortium.

Currently, Linda leads NASA Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Technology Infusion and JSC’s efforts to collaborate with industry in developing America’s Human Lander System, which will return humans to the Moon’s surface. She has built coalitions with commercial partners, universities, and U.S. government agencies; pioneering innovative techniques to collaborate with strategic partners worldwide.

Linda holds a M.S. in Astronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, an MBA from Rice University receiving the Jones Scholar Award, a B.S. in Applied Science, and a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Parkside. She received Parkside’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 2020 and three awards upon graduation.

Linda has two sons. She is a pilot, skydiver, SCUBA diver, avid runner, awarded bodybuilder, and enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and fitness.

WELCOME

James L. Stephens, PE
Advisory Board President

Welcome to our 2023 CNHS Community Event!

This is our Ninth Annual Alumni and Community Event. Once again, with considerable pride, we can get together at this year’s event to share the many accomplishments of our university.

With about sixty (60) majors, minors, concentrations, and certificates, the College of Natural and Health Sciences (CNHS) provides our students a strong academic foundation for meeting the highest scientific and technological challenges. All of Parkside’s stakeholders benefit from the school’s emphasis on experiential learning in many programs. Our stakeholders include students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the business community here in Southeast Wisconsin.

We have a full agenda today! Please take advantage of all aspects of today’s schedule of events. We all intend to enjoy today’s social and networking opportunities with fellow students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the university.

Please join us for our fascinating and timely presentation from our keynote speaker. Our keynote speaker is Linda Ham. Ms. Ham is a 1982 UW-Parkside alumna. She is the NASA ISC’s Human Landing System Government Task Agreement Integrator. Ms. Ham will update us on the NASA Johnson Space Center’s mission to return humans to the moon’s surface. She will also discuss who inspired her as she pioneered a path for women engineers in the space program.

We will also celebrate the ten-year anniversary of RUSCH (Rural and Urban Scholars in Community Health). Former UW-Parkside RUSCH students will share their experiences and their impact on our community.

Also, during our event, we plan to recognize our exceptional students with scholarship awards. These scholarship awards are available thanks to donations primarily from our alumni. The need for financial support through our scholarship funds has never been greater. Please consider a gift to our scholarship fund, so that our students can continue to pursue their career ambitions through a degree at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

We can also proudly announce that we have new academic programs in CNHS. This includes our new master of science degree in Physician Assistant proposed to start in May 2025. We are making solid progress toward implementing this degree.

We all should be immensely proud of our accomplishments at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Let us all enjoy a wonderful day together!