Charles J. Pellerin

Charles Pellerin, PhD Author of How NASA Builds Teams (Wiley, 2009) Charlie received Goddard Space Flight Center's highest patent related award for inventing a "Two-axis Fluxgate Magnetometer. The design, published in IEEE Transactions, then flew on missions to the planets. He earned a PhD in Astrophysics publishing in Solar Physics and the Astrophysical Journal. Catholic University awarded him their Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science. After the Harvard Business School's "Program for Management Development," NASA appointed Charlie Director, Astrophysics. He led this program for a decade launching 12 satellites. Charlie invented the Great Observatories Program garnering over $8B for space astrophysics. NASA awarded him an Outstanding Leadership Medal and the American Astronautical Society gave him their highest award, the Space Flight Award. In 1990, Charlie launched the Hubble Space Telescope with a flawed mirror. He then mounted the space repair mission that fixed the telescope. Hubble is now in its 20th year of operations. NASA awarded him a second Outstanding Leadership Medal, an honor bestowed on less than 50 people (including astronauts) in NASA's History. Charlie then developed NASA's post-cold-war strategy, and NASA awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, given "when the contribution is so extraordinary that other forms of recognition would be inadequate." In 1993, he joined the University of Colorado's (CU) Business School as a professor of Leadership. He taught leadership to undergraduates, MBAs, and executives. His classes had the highest ratings in the college, consistently "A+." Charlie then founded "4-D Systems" with sales of about $5 Million / year. His coaches won the International Coach Federation's 2007 Prism Award for "enhanced excellence and business achievement . . . with documented return on investment." How NASA Builds Teams is in English, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, and Bulgarian. Charlie lives a happy life with his wife in Boulder, Colorado.