UPJ Celebrates the Space Age!
March 26, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
Pitt-Johnstown Celebrates the Space Age with the Distinguished Mr. Robinson & Alumni Friends!
Pitt-Johnstown is honored to welcome the distinguished Gregory Robinson, former director of the phenomenal James Webb Space Telescope program that is revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. The universal praise for Mr. Robinson's exceptional leaderships skills, ingenuity, and sheer grit, that enabled him to steer a talented team of the best and the brightest to accomplish what many have dubbed the greatest scientific and technological feat of our time - the completion and deployment of the James Webb.
Currently a faculty member at Columbia University, Mr. Robinson retired from NASA after 33 years of meritorious service which resulted in multifarious accolades and worldwide acclaim. For example, Robinson was recognized in TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (2022) and is also a recipient of the TIME100 Impact Award. Other accolades include the Ebony Magazine Power 100 (2022), the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award (2022), the NASA Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award (2013), and the NASA Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award (2007).
Please join us at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center as we honor and celebrate this great American and learn more about his inspirational story and impactful life.
UPJ Celebrates the Space Age! from the Early days of Apollo program, to the Space Shuttle era and now, the James Webb Telescope!
To read more about the speaker, view his bio at Keynote Speaker Gregory Robinson (bigspeak.com)
Guest Speakers
Joining Mr. Robinson for this special evening will be two outstanding UPJ alums, pioneers who helped launch America into the space age: F. Don Freeburn ’63, mechanical engineering with an Aerospace Option, and Andy Hovanec ’58, chemical engineering.
F. Don Freeburn ’63, mechanical engineering with an Aerospace Option
Mr. Freeburn began his career at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston working on the Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttles and had a highly successful 45-year engineering career with NASA and the U.S. DOE that ended in 2010.
Andrew Hovanec ’58, chemical engineering
Mr. Hovanec began his career at Westinghouse, often traveling throughout the country until an appointment in Baltimore where he worked for 33 years until he retired. Subsequently, he went on to work at NASA's Goddard Space Center for 19 years at the Materials Assurance Department where he oversaw projects "from a safety standpoint.
This event is FREE to the public!
REGISTER TODAY!
Please join us at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center as we honor and celebrate America's journey into space, spanning the generations from the early pioneers of the sixties and this great American and learn more about his inspirational story and impactful life.
Generously supported by the John P. Murtha Foundation through the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.