Hans Mark Hans Michael Mark ( born June 17 , 1929 ) is a former Secretary of the Air Force and a former Deputy Administrator of NASA . He is an expert and consultant in aerospace design and national defense policy . Mark is currently working in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin . Early life and career . Mark was born in Mannheim , Germany . He lived in Vienna for a time before escaping the Nazi anschluss via Switzerland . Before the collapse of France the Mark family moved to London . Mark ' s father , Herman Francis Mark , a prominent polymer chemist , secured a position with a Canadian paper company and left before the family could accompany him . Finally , in late 1939 , his family joined him in Hawkesbury . About a year later the family moved to the United States . After becoming an American citizen in 1945 , he graduated from New York ' s Stuyvesant High School in 1947 and went on to receive a bachelor ' s degree in physics from the University of California , Berkeley in 1951 and a Ph . D . in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) in 1954 . After completion of his doctorate , Mark stayed on at MIT as a research associate and acting head of the Neutron Physics Group Laboratory for Nuclear Science . He returned to UC Berkeley in 1955 and remained there until 1958 as a research physicist at the University ' s Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore . Dr . Mark then returned to MIT as an assistant professor of physics . In 1960 , he again returned to the University of California ' s Livermore Radiation Laboratory ' s Experimental Physics Division . He remained there until 1964 , when he became chairman of the university ' s Department of Nuclear Engineering and administrator of the Berkeley Research Reactor . Mark has also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in physics and engineering at Boston University and the University of California , Davis . U . S . Government . In February 1969 , he became director of NASA ' s Ames Research Center , located in Mountain View , California . In this role , he managed the center ' s research and applications efforts in aeronautics , space science , life science and space technology . He subsequently served as Under Secretary of the Air Force from 1977 until July 1979 , when he was promoted to Secretary of the Air Force . Concurrently , he served as Director of the National Reconnaissance Office , from August 1977 to October 1979 . He remained as this position until 1981 , when he was appointed Deputy Administrator of NASA by President Reagan , a position he served in from July 10 , 1981 to September 1 , 1984 . University of Texas . Upon leaving NASA in 1984 , Mark served as Chancellor of The University of Texas system until 1992 . He moved on to become a senior professor of aerospace engineering at The University of Texas at Austin . In July 1998 , he began work at The Pentagon upon President Clinton ' s nomination of him as Director of Defense Research and Engineering . In 2001 , he returned to The University of Texas at Austin , where he currently holds the John J . McKetta Centennial Energy Chair in Engineering as a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics . He currently teaches a one - hour introductory course to incoming freshman on Aerospace Engineering . All undergraduates since 2001 have taken his course . He also teaches a history of space flight course and as well as a course focusing on the role of technology in the Cold War . Mark also holds a research position at the University of Texas ' Institute for Advanced Technology . Honors . Hans Mark is a member of the National Academy of Engineering , the nation ' s highest honor for engineering professionals . He is also an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics . He has received the 1999 Joe J . King Engineering Achievement Award and the 1999 George E . Haddaway Medal for Achievement in Aviation . Dr . Mark was recently honored for his contributions to the US military space program at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Astronautical Society . He received the 2006 Military Astronautics Award on November 14 , 2006 at the society ’ s annual meeting in Pasadena , Calif . In 2008 , the Space Foundation awarded Mark its highest honor , the General James E . Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award . It is presented annually to recognize outstanding individuals who have distinguished themselves through lifetime contributions to the welfare or betterment of humankind through the exploration , development and use of space , or the use of space technology , information , themes or resources in academic , cultural , industrial or other pursuits of broad benefit to humanity . Publications . Dr . Mark has written or edited eight books and published more than 180 technical report s . His works include :