Stennis director honored at White House ceremony

NASA's Stennis Space Center Director Rick Gilbrech was at the White House on Tuesday, being recognized as a recipient of a 2015 Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executive Service.

The event was part of a presidential initiative to build the federal workforce needed to drive greater government efficiency and effectiveness.

Gilbrech received his award for "key contributions to the nation's space space shuttle and Space Launch System programs."

Gilbrech has been Stennis Space Center's director since September 2012, his second stint as leader of the site. He began his NASA career at Stennis in 1991 in propulsion-test technology.

He was named Stennis director in 2006, then became associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at Headquarters in 2007. He left NASA in 2008 to work in industry and returned to Stennis as associate director in 2009 before being named deputy director in 2010 and director in 2012.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Stennis director honored at White House ceremony ."