{"id":122972,"date":"2025-08-06T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T07:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/122972\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T07:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T07:00:15","slug":"u-s-space-rocket-center-ceo-retires-nationwide-search-to-be-held-for-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/122972\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Space &#038; Rocket Center CEO retires. Nationwide search to be held for replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"NRHSBVXJKVDPJK7SWJTGK7CBRI\">Kimberly Robinson is retiring from her position as executive director and CEO of the U.S. Space &amp; Rocket Center, the center announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"VXHAQHYP3BH4VPD7Q6B66WY5SE\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.al.com\/news\/huntsville\/2025\/06\/us-space-rocket-center-ceo-on-leave-cfo-assumes-duties.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.al.com\/news\/huntsville\/2025\/06\/us-space-rocket-center-ceo-on-leave-cfo-assumes-duties.html\">Robinson had been on leave<\/a> from her position since June. No explanation was given for the leave of absence. Chief Financial Officer Brenda Perez assumed the duties of CEO in Robinson\u2019s absence and will continue to fill the role until a replacement is named, Space Center Senior Director of Public and Media Communications Patricia Ammons said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"UAEEDAVB25COPPJ5WVHOWOK66U\">A nationwide search will be held for a replacement.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Kimberly Robinson\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"hero-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/LV3JGESQNFFQPMSPCKOY3RXRME.jpg\" \/>U.S. Space &amp; Rocket Center CEO and Executive Director Kimberly Robinson.  (U.S. Space &amp; Rocket Center photo)<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"GVRRNPI3XFCFXPTMZ3JQBE2XYY\">\u201cI am deeply grateful for the privilege of serving this extraordinary institution,\u201d Robinson said in a statement. \u201cThis success is shared with the dedicated employees, volunteers, docents, partners, and donors whose passion and support have made this journey possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"2XAFICOPTRFWHD6BK3YSJRAQRE\">Robinson said she looks forward to joining her husband in retirement, spending more time with family and friends, and giving back through community service and volunteerism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"IO5OJP3DSRGWLBPPRPRIMMGEHQ\">Robinson has served as CEO since February 2021. She navigated the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had left the institution facing potential bankruptcy and permanent closure, the center said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"FJN7FHHVHRFUTLRJNV6PLNL5PA\">Under her guidance, the center underwent a strategic realignment that not only stabilized operations but led to record-breaking revenues, the center said in a news release. A highlight of her tenure was the successful launch of a $65 million capital campaign, fueled by donors and grants. This campaign enabled transformative investments, including the completion of two major facilities: the Space Camp Operations Center, which opened in May 2023, and the I\u2074 Skills Training Complex, scheduled for completion by the end of this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"DDJCBLFPERG65KB3D7RWFOLZOQ\">Before becoming executive director, Robinson served as NASA\u2019s Utilization manager for Advanced Exploration Systems and was previously the Payload Mission manager for Artemis I, the first integrated flight test of the NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Exploration Ground Systems at Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"25DHWX3Q7VEB3HIWBTJBM7KR3M\">Before that, she served as the SLS Strategic Communications manager.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"ZWBJZPCIYRB6HADRO4ZFYR3QH4\">Perez has been CFO since 2019 and had previously served as controller at the center.<\/p>\n<p>If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.advancelocal.com\/advancelocalUserAgreement\/user-agreement.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.advancelocal.com\/advancelocalUserAgreement\/privacy-policy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kimberly Robinson is retiring from her position as executive director and CEO of the U.S. Space &amp; Rocket&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":122973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[159,783,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-122972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114980534614921616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}