Editing James C. Fletcher

{{Short description|American NASA Administrator (1919–1991)}}
{{distinguish|James Cooley Fletcher}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = James C. Fletcher
|image = NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher - S71-31128.jpg
|order = 4th and 7th
|office = Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
|term_start = May 12, 1986
|term_end = April 8, 1989
|president = [[Ronald Reagan]]<br />[[George H.W Bush]]
|predecessor = [[James M. Beggs]]
|successor = [[Richard H. Truly]]
|term_start1 = April 27, 1971
|term_end1 = May 1, 1977
|president1 = [[Richard M. Nixon]]<br />[[Gerald Ford]]<br />[[Jimmy Carter]]
|predecessor1 = [[Thomas O. Paine]]
|successor1 = [[Robert A. Frosch]]
|office2 = 8th [[University of Utah Presidents|President of the University of Utah]]
|term_start2 = 1964
|term_end2 = 1971
|predecessor2 = [[A. Ray Olpin]]
|successor2 = [[Alfred C. Emery]]
|birth_date = June 5, 1919
|birth_place = [[Millburn, New Jersey]], U.S.
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1991|12|22|1919|6|5}}
|death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.
|resting_place = [[Salt Lake City Cemetery]]
|resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|40|46|37.92|N|111|51|28.8|W|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| module            =
  {{Infobox scientist | embed=yes
  | fields            = Physics
  | workplaces        = {{ublist|[[Harvard University]]|[[Princeton University]]|[[Hughes Aircraft]]|[[Ramo-Wooldridge]]|[[Aerojet General]]}}
  | education         =
  | alma_mater        = [[Columbia University]]<br>[[California Institute of Technology]]
  | thesis_title      = Cloud chamber studies of cosmic rays
  | thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/301831285/
  | thesis_year       = 1948
  | doctoral_advisor  = [[Carl David Anderson]]
  | academic_advisors =
  | doctoral_students =
  | notable_students  =
  | known_for         =
  | influences        =
  | influenced        =
  | awards            =
  }}

}}

'''James Chipman Fletcher''' (June 5, 1919 – December 22, 1991) served as the 4th and 7th Administrator of [[NASA]], first from April 27, 1971, to May 1, 1977, under Presidents [[Richard M. Nixon|Richard Nixon]], [[Gerald Ford]] and [[Jimmy Carter]], and again from May 12, 1986, to April 8, 1989, under Presidents [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[George H. W. Bush]]. As such, he was responsible for [[Apollo program|Apollo Moon missions]] [[Apollo 15|15]], [[Apollo 16|16]], and [[Apollo 17|17]], the early planning of the [[Space Shuttle program]], and later for the shuttle program's recovery and return to flight after the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' accident]]. Prior to this, he was president of the [[University of Utah]] from 1964 to 1971.

==Biography==
[[File: President Nixon and James Fletcher Discuss the Space Shuttle - GPN-2002-000109.jpg|thumb|left|President Nixon (right) with NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher in January 1972]]
[[File:The Shuttle Enterprise - GPN-2000-001363.jpg|thumb|left|210px|Dr. James Fletcher (left) with the cast of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' in front of the [[Space Shuttle Enterprise|Space Shuttle ''Enterprise'']] at the Palmdale manufacturing facility]]
Fletcher was born in [[Millburn, New Jersey]], to [[Harvey Fletcher]] and Lorena Chipman.<ref name="BYU">{{cite web |title=In Memory of Harvey Fletcher |url=http://www.et.byu.edu/~tom/family/Harvey_Fletcher/harvey_fletcher.html |website=www.et.byu.edu |publisher=Brigham Young University |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref> His father, Harvey, is known as the "Father of Stereophonic sound". Fletcher earned a bachelor's degree in physics from [[Columbia College of Columbia University]] and a PhD in physics (1948) from the [[California Institute of Technology]].<ref name="thesis-fletcher-1948">{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/301831285/ |title=Cloud chamber studies of cosmic rays |date=1948 |publisher=[[California Institute of Technology]] |type=Ph.D. |last=Fletcher |first=James C. |id={{ProQuest|301831285 }}  |url-access=subscription|oclc=654923475}}</ref><ref name = Fisher>{{ cite news |last=Fisher |first=Ian |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFD8123FF937A15751C1A967958260 |title=James Fletcher, 72, NASA Chief Who Urged Shuttle Program, Dies |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 24, 1991 |access-date=December 11, 2007}}</ref> After holding research and teaching positions at [[Harvard University|Harvard]] and [[Princeton University|Princeton]] Universities, he joined [[Hughes Aircraft]] in 1948 and later worked at the Guided Missile Division of the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation. In 1958, Fletcher co-founded the Space Electronics Corporation in [[Glendale, California]], which, after a merger, became the Space General Corporation. He was later named systems vice president of the Aerojet General Corporation in [[Sacramento, California]]. In 1964, he became president of the [[University of Utah]], a position he held until he was named NASA Administrator by President [[Richard M. Nixon]] in 1971.

During his first administration at NASA, Fletcher was responsible for beginning the [[Space Shuttle]] effort, as well as the [[Viking program]] that sent landers to [[Mars]]. He oversaw the [[Skylab]] missions and approved the [[Voyager program|Voyager space probes]] and the [[Apollo–Soyuz]] Test Project.

When he left NASA in 1977, Fletcher became an independent consultant in [[McLean, Virginia]], and served on the faculty of the [[University of Pittsburgh]]. For nine years, he was active as an advisor to key national leaders involved in planning space policy. Among other activities, he served on an advisory board involved in developing the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]].

In 1986, President [[Ronald Reagan]] selected Fletcher to administer NASA for a second time, to help the agency recover from the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' accident]]. Shuttle flights went into a two-year hiatus while Fletcher ensured that NASA reinvested heavily in the program's safety and reliability, made organizational changes to improve efficiency, and restructured its management system. He oversaw a complete reworking of the components of the Shuttle to enhance its safety, including a redesign of the [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster|solid rocket booster]]s, and added an egress method for the astronauts. The Space Shuttle returned to flight on September 29, 1988.  Fletcher also approved the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] program. He served as Administrator until April 8, 1989, into the term of Reagan's successor, President [[George H. W. Bush]].

Fletcher lived in [[McLean, Virginia]]. He died from lung cancer on December 22, 1991, at [[Georgetown University Hospital]] in Washington, D.C., aged 72,<ref name = Fisher/> and was buried at [[Salt Lake City Cemetery]]. He was a member of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].

In 1974, he received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}</ref> He was posthumously inducted into the [[International Space Hall of Fame]] in 1992.<ref name=ep5>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29989179/el_paso_times/|title=5 Inducted Into Space Hall of Fame|newspaper=El Paso Times|location=El Paso, Texas|date=October 5, 1992|page=8|agency=Associated Press|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* ''Portions of this article are based on [[public domain]] text from [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Biographies/fletcher.html NASA]''

==External links==
* {{commonscat-inline}}
* {{C-SPAN|1084}}

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{{NASAadmin}}
{{University of Utah presidents}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, James C.}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:Administrators of NASA]]
[[Category:Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Carter administration personnel]]
[[Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer]]
[[Category:Ford administration personnel]]
[[Category:George H. W. Bush administration personnel]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saints from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Nixon administration personnel]]
[[Category:People from McLean, Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Millburn, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Presidents of the University of Utah]]
[[Category:Princeton University faculty]]
[[Category:Reagan administration personnel]]