Cohen, Aaron

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    Finding Aid for the Aaron Cohen Papers, 1954-2009 (#2011-0007)
    (UHCL Archives staff, 2011) Cohen, Aaron
    Aaron Cohen was born in Corsicana, Texas, on January 5, 1931. After graduating from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1952, Cohen served as a U.S. Army officer for two years during the Korean War era. On returning to civilian life, he worked for RCA as a microwave tube design engineer from 1954 to 1958, whereupon he moved to General Dynamics Corporation. In 1958, Cohen received a Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from Stevens Institute of Technology. In 1962, Cohen joined NASA as a structures and materials engineer in the Spacecraft Research Division. He assumed positions of progressively greater responsibility until he was named manager of the Apollo Command and Service Modules in 1969. Cohen held this position until 1972, when he became manager of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Office. In this capacity, Cohen oversaw the design, development, production, and test flights of the Space Shuttle orbiters. In 1982, he was promoted to Director of Engineering at the Johnson Space Center, and four years later, he became director of the center. He served in that post until 1992. Aaron Cohen then served as the Acting Deputy Administrator of NASA between February 19, 1992, and November 1, 1992. In 1993, Cohen retired from NASA to become H.B. Zachry Professor of Engineering at Texas A&M University, his alma mater, while simultaneously serving as a senior technical advisor for Kistler Aerospace Corporation in Kirkland, Washington. Cohen died on February 25, 2010. The collection covers Aaron Cohen’s career from 1954 to 2009 with biographical and personnel data; correspondence; writings, speeches, and interviews by Cohen; documents from RCA, NASA, and Texas A& M University; NASA presentations and proposals; honors and awards; reports and studies; slides and transparencies; publications; business cards; and DVD recordings of class lectures. Box 1 contains biographical data, correspondence, writings by Cohen, speeches and interviews by him, and schematic drawings from RCA. Box 2 contains other RCA documents and NASA presentations. Box 3 contains additional NASA presentations and proposals, information on honors and awards, information on Cohen’s participation in AeroAstro annual, and a report on space exploration cost. Box 4 contains NASA reports and studies as well as publications and newspaper clippings and flyers, slides, photographs, and transparencies. Box 5 contains miscellaneous documents, business cards, and DVDs of Cohen’s lectures at MIT.