PROGRAMS:

COMPANIES:

• Army Ballistic Missile Agency
• NASA
• SpaceTEC Partners

LOCATIONS:

AF Eastern Test Range (ABMA); Kennedy Space Center (NASA and SpaceTEC); Cape Canaveral AFS (SpaceTEC); and Brevard Community College/EFSC (SpaceTEC and Aerospace Technology)

COMMENTS:

I began my aerospace career at age 17 as a graduate of Titusville High School in 1959 working summers for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency at its Missile Firing Lab on Cape Canaveral.

Al Koller receives a high fidelity model of the Jupiter missile as a result of his science fair project at Titusville High School in 1959.  Bob Gorman, right, represents the Army Ballistic Missile Agency where Al got his first job as a technician trainee as part of the Missile Firing Lab at Cape Canaveral, Florida that summer.

I transferred to NASA in 1960 as part of the Von Braun ABMA rocket team and worked in Launch Vehicle Operations as Technical Assistant to the Director; as the Environmental Program Manager in Design Engineering; as the Environmental Health Officer and Biomedical Program Manager; and as a Total Quality Management Consultant,

I remained at NASA for 32 years, earning Masters and Doctoral degrees in management, taking early retirement in 1992 to pursue a lifelong commitment to education at Brevard Community College.  There I was Vice President for International Education, working in more than 10 countries including Russia, India, Thailand, Hungary, Czech Republic, Canada, El Salvador, Mexico, Romania, and Suriname.  I have taught at several universities and am published in the technical and management fields, as well as international education.

In 1997 I became the Titusville Campus President and, when a $1M grant was received from the state of Florida, I was asked to serve as the Executive Director of the BCC Aerospace Program and led a national consortium of colleges that won more than $10M in grants to create SpaceTEC – the National Science Foundation’s Center for Aerospace Technical Education. I served there as SpaceTEC PI and Managing Director until retiring in December of 2013.  You can see their websites at www.spacetec.org and www.certtec.com.  I still consult as president of the e3 Company, and my website is at:  www.e3company.com.

In my private life, I currently serve as President of the NASA Alumni League Florida Chapter, remaining active in   aerospace consulting.  In 2008 I received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Space Club Florida Committee and remain active as a member in that organization.

I am a member of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Titusville where I have served as Treasurer, Junior Warden, Senior Warden, and Lay Reader.  My past community activities include work as the founding Chair of the Brevard Nature Alliance; Founder and past Director of the Business Education Support Board, Inc.; Past Board Chair and Director of the Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce; past member of the Jess Parrish Medical Foundation Board of Directors; and past member of Titusville Sunrise Rotary Club.  

I married my wife, the former Carol Ann Knight of Jacksonville, Fl, in our senior year in college at Florida State University more than 53 years ago.  We have three daughters, a son, ten grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.