(Bluefield)—John M. Hairston, Jr., has traveled many miles since the days of his youth when he attended a two-room school in Wilcoe, WV. Today, as NASA's acting assistant for education, Hairston credits the curriculum received at McDowell County public schools and Bluefield State College (BSC) with providing the foundation that launched his career in education.

As acting assistant administrator for education, Hairston is responsible for the development and implementation of NASA's educational outreach and informational programs that strengthen public awareness and contribute to the agency's scientific goals and missions.

Prior to the appointment, Hairston directed the external programs directorate at NASA’s Glenn Research Center located in Cleveland, OH. “My duties included designing, developing, and initiating educational programs for K-12 and higher education,” he explained during a phone interview on June 15, 2006, his first day in his new position.

"NASA's mission is to inspire, engage, educate, and employ the next generation of explorers and innovators who can help strengthen our Nation's workforce," said Hairston. " Education is the critical component for achieving such an endeavor."

The career educator and administrator credits his parents—Fern Delores Hairston and the late Suffragan Bishop John M. Hairston—with developing an appreciation for the importance of education. “My parents said I’d be the first member of our family to graduate from college,” he recalled. “They had limited resources to do it, but they believed I would.”

“I grew up in Wilcoe, near Gary,” he continued. “It was a community that cared.” While attending a two-room elementary school with a pot-bellied stove supplying heat in the winter, Hairston was taught by Mrs. Leslie Robinson. “I remember that she often told me, ‘you’ll be a star.’” Upon graduation from Gary District High School, the 17-year old Hairston seriously considered enlisting in the Marine Corps. His father, though, had other ideas. “My dad had been wounded in the war, and the military was not what he wanted me to do,” Hairston explained.

He enrolled at nearby Bluefield State College. “The dietician at the College had an extra room at her residence, so I stayed there when I started out at Bluefield State,” he said. His memories of BSC are fond ones. “I fell in love with the school and graduated in three-and-a-half years. Bluefield State was a nurturing school—they didn’t throw you to the wolves. I remember the faculty, people like the late Mrs. Othello Harris-Jefferson, who were very hard, but fair.”

Hairston earned a master’s degree from Cleveland State University, then completed several courses at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Public Policy. “Actually, I found that my academic challenges at Cleveland State weren’t as difficult as my undergraduate courses—BSC had prepared me well,” he observed.

“The support I received from my family and my teachers in McDowell County and at BSC was invaluable,” he summarized. “BSC alumni are everywhere in the world, and they’re doing well.”

After 27 years as an educator and administrator in the Cleveland Municipal School System, Hairston joined NASA in 1991. “At 48 years of age, I decided to change careers. I prayed about it and made the move,” he said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”

Hairston has received numerous awards including the Presidential Rank Award; a Key to the City of Cleveland; NASA's Exceptional Achievement Medal; and NASA's Medal for Outstanding Leadership. He was appointed to the Martin Luther King Ohio State Commission by then Governor George Voinovich and was presented a Congressional Record Commendation from Congressman Louis Stokes.

June 26, 2006