A Collection in Special Collections Collection Number
Ms1990-068
Special Collections, Virginia Tech
2018 (CC0).
Processed by:
Special Collections Staff
Repository
Special Collections, Virginia Tech,
Blacksburg, Va.
Collection Number
Ms1990-068
Title
John W. Townsend, Jr., Papers, 1949-1990
Physical Characteristics
8.4 Cubic Feet
6 boxes
Creator
Townsend, John W., Jr. (John William),
1924-2011
Location
Please note:
This collection is in off-site storage and requires 2-3 days notice for retrieval. Please
contact Special Collections for more information.
Permission to publish from the John W. Townsend, Jr., Papers must be obtained from Special
Collections, Virginia Tech.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: John
W. Townsend, Jr., Papers, Ms1990-068, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg,
Va.
Acquisition Information
The John W. Townsend, Jr., Papers were donated to Special Collections in 1990.
Processing Information
Some original description of the John W. Townsend, Jr., Papers was completed prior to 2000.
A folder list and additional description of the collection was completed in October and
November 2018.
John W. Townsend, Jr. was born in 1924. He received a B.A. from Williams College in 1947,
an M.A. in 1949, and a Sc.D. in 1961. After completing his M.A., Townsent went to work for
the Naval Research Labororatory from 1949-1958, spending the last three years as a branch
head. In 1958, he moved to NASA for a decade, including three years (1965-1968) as the
deputy director fo the Goddard Space Center in Maryland. He left NASA in 1968 to serve as a
deputy administrator in the Environmental Sciences Services Administration (1968-1970), and
an associate adminstrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(1970-1977). In 1977, he took a break from government work, serving as the president of
Fairchild Space and Electronics Company (1977-1982) and, when the company changed names,
president of Fairchild Space Company from 1983-1987. In 1987, he returned to NASA as
director of the Goddard Space Center until his retirement in 1990. Townsend died in November
2011.
This collection contains six boxes of John W. Townsend, Jr.'s personal and professional
papers from 1949 until his retirement from corporate and government aerospace work in 1990.
In addition to profressional correspondence, memos, and subject files, there are extensive
travel files from 1949-1968 and 1985-1990, congressional testimony on NASA projects from
1982-1986, and files on the history of the Upper Air Rocket Research Program at the Naval
Research Laboratory from about 1956-1958. Throughout his career, Townsend also served on a
number of council, boards, and panels. The collection also includes files from the Thumba
Equatorial Rocket Launching Station Advisory Panel (1966-1968, the International Academy of
Astronautics (c. 1981-1987), the NASA Advisory Council (1982-1987), the National Academy of
Engineering (1982-1987), the National Research Council Space Applications Board (1983-1987),
and the Office of Technology Assessment Advisory Board Panel on International Cooperation
and Competition in Civilian Space Activities (1982-1985).
The collection is in the original order it was received. For the most part, materials
related to the same topic or organization are together and arranged in reverse chronological
order.
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