In his 20’s – Engineer, Inventor, Research Astrophysicist
With a BS in Physics (Drexel University), Charles (Charlie) Pellerin joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He invented a magnetometer that saved NASA many thousands of dollars, receiving the Center’s highest-ever patent related monetary award. The design (modified by his co-inventor) flew on the first mission to leave the solar system and almost every mission to the planets since 1970. He published the magnetometer’s analytical model in IEEE Transactions. He earned a MS and PhD in Astrophysics (Catholic University of America). The author published in Solar Physics and the Astrophysical Journal about the composition of the solar surface and galactic magnetic field structures. Catholic University awarded him their Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science.
In his 30’s & 40’s – NASA’s Director of Astrophysics
Charlie then became interested in management, graduating from the Harvard Business School’s prestigious “Program for Management Development.” Then, at 38 years of age, NASA appointed him Director, Astrophysics. He led NASA’s astrophysics program for a decade launching 12 satellites with a budget of $750 Million / year- one of the largest scientific programs in history. Charlie invented the Great Observatories Program that garnered over $8B for space astrophysics. NASA awarded him an Outstanding Leadership Medal and the American Astronautical Society recently gave him their highest award, the Space Flight Award.
In 1990, the world discovered that NASA’s crown jewel, the Hubble Space Telescope was useless because of a flawed mirror. The author mounted the daring space repair mission that fixed the telescope. Hubble is now in its 15th year of productive scientific research with more than 3,500 technical publications. NASA awarded him a second Outstanding Leadership Medal, an honor bestowed on less than 50 people (including astronauts) in NASA’s History.
NASA promoted the author to the highest (non-political) level in the government. As Associate Deputy Administrator, he developed NASA’s post-cold-war strategy. NASA then awarded him its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, given “when the contribution is so extraordinary that other forms of recognition would be inadequate.”
In his 50’s and early 60’s – University Professor, Business Owner, Author
With nothing higher to aspire to in the government, he joined the University of Colorado’s (CU) Business School as a Professor of Leadership. He was curious about leadership’s role in Hubble’s mishap. He taught undergraduates, MBAs, and executives a course called Twenty-first Century Leadership. After a presentation by his students to the Dean’s Advisory Council, the CEOs of Pepsi, Exabyte, and the Area Managing Partner for Ernst & Young asked him to “bring this class into their company.” Pepsi’s CEO also gave the Dean a check for $50,000 if he would keep the author in the Business School. His classes had the highest ratings in the college, consistently “A+.”
Charlie founded “4-D Systems” with Ernest and Young as his first client. He began by converting his CU class material into a businesses-oriented three-day workshop. Later, he added coaching to minimize “post-workshop decay.” Next, seeing that intellectual immersion is insufficient to cause behavioral change (the only thing that matters) he added fast on-line behavioral assessments. Finally, realizing that context was the driver behind team and individual performance, he invented a one-hour “Context-Shifting Worksheet” (CSW). Today, “4-D Systems” has sales above $4 Million / year. His team won the International Coach Federation’s (the largest coach credentialing organization in the world) 2007 Prism Award for “enhanced excellence and business achievement…with documented return on investment.”
The 4-D System is the most effective team and leader development methodology ever. How NASA Builds Teams extends this System to anyone who wants to be more effective in his or her life and work.
Charlie lives a happy life with his wife in Boulder, Colorado.
Charles. J. Pellerin, PhD
How NASA Builds Teams 