AIAA Announces 2023 Premier Award Winners Written 13 February 2023

Aerospace’s Best and Brightest to be Honored at AIAA Awards Gala

February 13, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the 2023 recipients of its most prestigious awards, the AIAA Premier Awards, recognizing the most influential and inspiring individuals in aerospace whose outstanding contributions merit the highest accolades. A new award – the AIAA Award for Aerospace Excellence – was added in 2023 in order to celebrate a unique program or mission in the aerospace community deserving timely recognition.

Presentation of the 2023 AIAA Premier Awards and recognition of the Institute’s Class of 2023 Honorary Fellows and Fellows will take place at the AIAA Awards Gala, Thursday, 18 May, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts*, Washington, DC. Tickets are available now.

“Congratulations to our premier award winners,” said AIAA President Laura McGill. “We are inspired by their hard work and achievements, and we thank them for their dedication to the aerospace industry. AIAA is committed to ensuring that aerospace professionals are recognized and celebrated for their innovations and discoveries that make the world safer, more connected, more accessible, and more prosperous.”

The winners are:

AIAA Award for Aerospace Excellence – Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Team, NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

AIAA Public Service Award – Bill Nye, The Planetary Society

AIAA Reed Aeronautics Award – John S. Langford III, Electra.Aero

AIAA Distinguished Service Award – David R. Riley, Boeing Research & Technology (retired)

AIAA International Cooperation Award – Vincent A. Orlando, MIT Lincoln Laboratory

AIAA Engineer of the Year Award – Alison A. Nordt, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center

AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award – Charlie Atkinson, Jennifer Love-Pruitt, Michael T. Menzel, and Lee D. Feinberg, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Northrop Grumman Team – James Webb Space Telescope 

AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award – Phillip J. Ansell, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Award Citations

AIAA Award for Aerospace Excellence
This award honors a unique achievement by a group or team in the aerospace community that is shaping the future of aerospace and inspiring the next generation to pursue careers in aerospace. The award is designed for timely recognition of a recent program or mission.

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Team, honored “In recognition of humanity’s first time purposely changing the motion of a celestial object by a team of protectors of our home planet.” Accepting the award on behalf of the DART team: Jeremy John, JHUAPL, and Lindley Johnson, NASA.

AIAA Public Service Award
The award honors a person who has demonstrated sustained and visible support for aviation and space goals.

Bill Nye, The Planetary Society, honored “For demonstrating sustained and visible support for aviation and space goals through popular media outreach.”

AIAA Reed Aeronautics Award
The highest honor AIAA bestows for notable achievements in the field of aeronautics. The award is named after Dr. Sylvanus A. Reed, aeronautical engineer, designer, and founding member of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences in 1932.  

John S. Langford III, Electra.Aero, honored “For exemplary achievement as an outstanding aeronautical engineer, visionary leadership in the development of autonomous flight, and relentless advocacy of the future aerospace workforce.”

AIAA Distinguished Service Award
AIAA recognizes an individual member who has provided distinguished service to the Institute over a period of years.

David R. Riley, Boeing Research & Technology (retired), honored “In recognition of over four decades of dedicated leadership and service to AIAA at the section, region, national, and international levels.”

AIAA International Cooperation Award
The award is presented to a member who has made a recent individual contribution in the application of scientific and mathematical principles leading to a significant accomplishment or event worthy of AIAA’s national or international recognition.

Vincent A. Orlando, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, honored “For over 40 years of sustained technical innovation, standards development, and international harmonization of aviation surveillance system technology.”

AIAA Engineer of the Year Award
The award is presented to a member of the Institute who has made a recent individual, technical contribution in the application of scientific and mathematical principles leading to a significant technical accomplishment.

Alison A. Nordt, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, honored “For exceptional engineering and technical leadership in the development of the Near Infrared Camera critical to the success of the James Webb Space Telescope.”

AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award
The highest honor AIAA bestows for notable achievement in the field of astronautics. It was endowed by Mrs. Goddard in the 1940s as the ARS Goddard Memorial Award to commemorate her husband, Robert H. Goddard—rocket visionary, pioneer, bold experimentalist, and superb engineer whose early liquid rocket engine launches set the stage for the development of astronautics.

Charlie Atkinson, Jennifer Love-Pruitt, Michael T. Menzel, and Lee D. Feinberg, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Northrop Grumman Team – James Webb Space Telescope, honored “For delivering groundbreaking engineering performance for the James Webb Space Telescope, to advance the study of every phase of cosmic history.”

AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award
The award is presented for a notable contribution made by a young person, age 35 or under, to the advancement of aeronautics or astronautics. This award honors Lawrence B. Sperry, pioneer aviator and inventor, who died in 1923 in a forced landing while attempting a flight across the English Channel.

Phillip J. Ansell, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, honored “For outstanding contributions to electrified aircraft technologies and pioneering work toward sustainable aviation.”

*Please note that this event is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and is not produced by the Kennedy Center.

Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, RebeccaG@AIAA.org, 804-397-5270

About AIAA 
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit  www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.