Florida Scientist and Businessman Tapped for NASA's Highest Civilian Honor
 Kenneth Ford, director of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, has been awarded NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal. [Photo: Ray Stanyard] |
The Distinguished Public Service Medal is the premier honor bestowed by NASA to civilian, non-federal government employees. It is reserved exclusively for those who display distinguished service, ability, and/or courage, and have personally made an exceptional contribution to NASA representing substantial progress to its mission.
Previous Distinguished Public Service Medal recipients include: Charles H. Townes, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Riccardo Giacconi and Harry H. Hess.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized by NASA to receive this very prestigious medal,” said Dr. Ford. “I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to contribute to the NASA mission, and to be involved with so many extraordinary and committed scientists, engineers, and researchers as we work collaboratively toward ground breaking innovations that make a difference for our nation.”
“Dr. Ford represents the very best and brightest that Florida has to offer to the nation and we are so proud to call him one of our own,” said Governor Charlie Crist. “Ken has long contributed to the advancement of our nation’s and state’s space programs, and he has shown a dedicated commitment to our state that is quite commendable. I join all Floridians in congratulating Dr. Ford on receiving this well deserved accolade, and thank him for making a difference in space from right here in Florida.”
Dr. Ford continues to successfully lead and evolve the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) located in Pensacola and Ocala. IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute associated with the Florida University System that collaborates extensively with industry and government labs to develop science and technologies aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities.
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Official site:
» IHMC