Year Inducted: 2025
Dr. Kimberly Robinson’s goal of igniting an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math is a mission fueled by her passion for space exploration. As a trail-blazing
NASA engineer and leader of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, she has substantially impacted engineering in Alabama.
Since becoming CEO and executive director, Robinson has secured the Center’s future and boosted Space Camp, which is training the next generation of technical leaders. Her efforts have ensured the front door to the Rocket City, threatened by the economic devastation of the pandemic, stayed open and continues to serve as a shining symbol of Alabama’s contributions to space exploration.
A native of Birmingham, Robinson graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. After Vanderbilt, Robinson joined NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
In her 31-year NASA career, she held significant roles, lastly at NASA Headquarters as the utilization manager for advanced exploration programs. Previously, she served as payload mission manager for Artemis I, which successfully orbited the moon in 2022, the first human-rated launch vehicle to do so since Apollo. Robinson helped formulate the Space Launch System (SLS) Program, and she led the team that enabled the SLS rocket to launch payloads into deep space.
Other NASA roles were as a manager for the Ares I-X rocket that was named TIME’s 2009 Science Invention of the Year. She also led Strategic Communications, building advocacy with stakeholders and the American public. Early in her career, she worked on the International Space Station, Space Lab, and trained Space Shuttle astronauts.
Robinson taught at UAH and at Oakwood University, where she served as the NASA administrator’s fellow selected to promote STEM at a minority-serving institution.
In February 2021, Robinson took the helm of the Rocket Center, a state agency overseen by a governor-appointed board. The Center was in severe financial distress due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Through her grit and determination and numerous hard-sought federal, city and county grants, and corporate donations, the Center has rehired staff and today is on solid financial ground.
With the board and executive team, Robinson developed the Center’s first comprehensive strategic plan and an updated campus master plan in 2022. She oversaw a capital campaign that raised more than $42 million from government, industry partners, and private donors. She opened the fully funded Space Camp Operations Center, which serves as the home of U.S. Cyber Camp.
In 2024, extensive improvement work continued, including the renovation and restoration of the Space Shuttle Pathfinder and five historic rockets in Rocket Park. Robinson and her team are now working on an experiential learning facility for Space Camp, the Inspiration4 Skills Training Complex. This facility will include skydiving simulations,
night vision and spatial disorientation training, drone piloting, and a new mission floor dedicated to space missions of the future.
Robinson’s many honors include a NASA Silver Snoopy Award, a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, a YellowHammer Women of Impact Award, National Space Club’s Communicator of the Year, and a UAH Alumni of Achievement Award.
