#164: Dr. James Kenyon (NASA Glenn) — To the Moon, Mars and Beyond, From Cleveland — The Future of Aviation & Space Exploration

Lay of The Land

Dr. James Kenyon, Director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio

The road to the Moon goes through Cleveland. With a budget of approximately $900 million, a staff of more than 3,200 civil servants, over 725 patents, and over 120 R&D 100 Awards, Glenn — under Dr. Kenyon's leadership and in accordance with NASA's mandates — is providing integral support to Artemis, NASA’s mission to return us to the Moon, overseeing the service module that will propel the Orion Space Capsule out of Earth’s orbit and around the Moon.

Founded in 1941, Glenn Research Center has led NASA’s electric propulsion development efforts and been integral in many of NASA’s most famous missions transforming aviation and space exploration — from Mercury and Apollo to the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station; playing important roles in robotic exploration missions, including the Mars rovers and Cassini’s mission to Saturn.

Prior to becoming Glenn’s director. Dr. Kenyon served as director of the Advanced Air Vehicles Program in the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, led advanced programs and technology at Pratt & Whitney, and worked for 17 years in the Department of Defense where he was responsible for strategic planning, policy guidance and management oversight of DoD aerospace science and technology programs.

This conversation tapped into my latent childhood love and curiosity for exploring the great cosmos around spaceship Earth — Dr. Kenyon and I explore his passion for aerospace and path to NASA, the history and evolution of the Glenn Research Center, and its significant impact here in Cleveland, his reflections on leadership, decision making and talent, and ultimately what’s on the horizon, for exploring the unknown in both air and space.

-----

LINKS:
Connect with Dr. James Kenyon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kenyon-204174172
NASA's Office of STEM Engagement: https://www.nasa.gov/glenn-stem/

NASA's Internships: https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/internship-programs/

Doing Business with NASA Glenn: https://www.nasa.gov/glenn-business-and-partnerships/
NASA Glenn's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nasaglenn/
NASA Glenn's X: https://twitter.com/NASAglenn

-----

SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & Ninety

John Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/
As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University — success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!

With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.

The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.edu

The Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.

Impact Architects & Ninety
Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!

This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!

-----

Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.

Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.

Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/

Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefe

Follow Lay of The Land on X @podlayoftheland

https://www.jeffreys.page/