Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Charles F. Bolden, Jr.
Test Pilot, Astronaut, and First African American NASA Administrator
August 19, 1947 –
Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Charles F. Bolden, Jr. was born in Columbia, South Carolina. In high school, he applied to the Naval Academy, but he was turned down for an appointment by the South Carolina’s Congressional delegation, which included then-segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond. Bolden received his appointment after personally writing, as a high school senior, to President Lyndon B. Johnson. A recruiter came to his house a few weeks later, eventually leading to Bolden receiving an appointment from U.S. Representative William L. Dawson from Chicago, Illinois. Later, during various career milestones, he received notes of congratulations from Senator Strom Thurmond.
Bolden graduated from the Naval Academy in 1968. He went on to fly more than 100 combat missions in an A-6A Intruder during the Vietnam War as a member of the Marine Corps. In 1978 he was a test pilot at the Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. He graduated in June 1979. During this tour of duty, he lived in Great Mills, St. Mary’s County. He was assigned to the Naval Air Test Center’s Systems Engineering and Strike Aircraft Test Directorates. While there, he served as an ordnance test pilot and flew numerous test projects in the A-6E, EA-6B, and A-7C/E airplanes. He logged more than 6,000 hours of flying time.
Bolden was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1980 and became an astronaut in August 1981. He was one of several astronauts recruited as part of a NASA effort to increase the number of minority and female astronauts. A veteran of four space flights, he has logged over 680 hours in space. Bolden served as the pilot on STS-61-C (January 12–18, 1986) and STS-31 (April 24–29, 1990) and was the mission commander on STS-45 (March 24 – April 2, 1992) and STS-60 (February 3–11, 1994).
In 2009, President Obama appointed Bolden to be the administrator of NASA. His appointment made him the first African American NASA Administrator and only the second astronaut to be in the position. Bolden oversaw a period of transition at NASA with the completion of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 and the shift to commercial cargo resupply of the International Space Station. He also oversaw NASA’s journey back toward the Moon and Mars with the development of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft. Other notable achievements from Bolden’s time as Administrator include: the Mars Curiosity Rover landing, the Juno mission to Jupiter, and focusing NASA’s aeronautics divisions on developing faster and quieter aircraft while being more climate-friendly than ever. He served until 2017.
Bolden holds a Master of Science in systems management from the University of Southern California. His past honors include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medals, and NASA Space Flight Medals. He received the Rotary National Space Trophy in 2014 and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2020 and holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from numerous higher education institutions. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2006 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2016. He served as a U.S. Department of State Science Envoy for Space from 2018-2019.
Additional Resources
“Bolden, Charles F. Jr.”. Current Biography Yearbook 2010. Ipswich, MA: H.W. Wilson. 2010. pp. 50–53. ISBN 9780824211134.
“Retired General Picked to Lead NASA”, by Kenneth Chang, The New York Times May 24, 2009
“Charles F. Bolden Jr. (Major General, USMC Ret.) NASA Astronaut” (PDF). NASA. January 2017
“First Black NASA Administrator Charles Bolden ‘Pleaded’ To Get Into Naval Academy”. NPR.org.
