Jack Fisher received a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois and started his engineering career as an aerodynamicist at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank. His experience also included an assignment at Lockheed Missiles in Sunnyvale performing IV&V for the Corona program. While at Lockheed he earned an MS degree in Aeronautical Engineering from USC.
Jack left Lockheed in 1961 and joined Hughes just as the company received contracts for Surveyor and Syncom and entered the space business. He was a systems engineer at Hughes from 1961 to 1992 and contributed to many programs including Surveyor, Pioneer Venus, Galileo, Intelsat VI and innumerable studies and proposals. He was the manager of of the Spacecraft Systems Engineering Lab until his retirement. Upon retirement Jack taught systems engineering at a number of national and international venues.
Jack was a founding member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and supported the organization during its formative years.
Steven D. Dorfman is the retired Vice Chairman of Hughes Electronics. During his time at Hughes he served as CEO of Hughes Space and Communications Company, the world’s leading builder of communication satellites and a provider of Space Systems for the NASA, NRO, Navy and Air Force; Hughes Communications, a leading owner and operator of communication satellites; and Hughes Telecommunications and Space, a unit responsible for the above businesses plus the international development of DirecTV. While CEO of Hughes Communications Dorfman was responsible for the development of the Galaxy System, the leading North American satellite service provider, subsequently merged with Intelsat; the JCSAT system for Japan, in partnership with Mitsui and Itochu; the initiation of the direct to home business at Hughes which ultimately became DirecTV; and several other satellite businesses.
After retiring from Hughes, Mr. Dorfman was the Hunsaker Visiting Professor at MIT, the Chairman of ProtoStar Ltd and a member of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee. Mr. Dorfman has served on the Boards of Hughes, Raytheon, PanAmSat, American Mobile Satellite, Galaxy Latin America, JCSAT, DirecTV, Galaxy Institute, ProtoStar and HRL Laboratories. He has been a Trustee of the Boys and Girls Club and the Devereux Foundation. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Tennenbaum Capital Advisory Board, the Thoroughbred Owners of California, and is a Senior Fellow of the California Council for Science and Technology. He has served on advisory committees for NASA, FCC, USIA, Department of Transportation, Air Force, USC School of Engineering, Hughes Network Systems, Boeing Satellite Systems, JPL, Ames Research Center and the National Research Council. Among Mr. Dorfman’s awards are the Distinguished Public Service Award, NASA’s highest award, for his work on Pioneer Venus; the Society of Satellite Professionals Hall of Fame; and Via Satellite’s Satellite Executive of the Year for 1995.
Our Space Heritage 1960-2000 