Donald Mendoza:  

Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola Florida to become a Weapons Systems Officer, he accepted a job with the company, Morton-Thiokol, that made the space shuttle solid rocket motor boosters. Weeks later the Challenger tragedy occurred, and he decided to accept a position with United States Air Force at the Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards Air Force Base in California instead. Here, Mendoza fulfilled some of his earliest dreams as he worked on and flew in F-15, T-38 and F-16 jets. Here, he also met one of his heroes, retired General Chuck Yeager, becoming further motivated to pursue his dreams. He also teamed up with past and future astronauts as a student at the USAF Test Pilot School and a member of a flight test squadron aimed at ensuring the nation maintained its air superiority over its adversaries. During his time at the AFFTC, he made critical contributions towards protecting pilots from flaming out their engines during combat maneuvers, which were being explored for the air campaign in Operation Desert Storm. His findings were published in the F-15’s “dash-1” or flight manual and informed the pilots when they were at risk of suffering a flame out. Mendoza’s last assignment at the AFFTC was to ensure the YF-22 would meet the nation’s future air superiority requirements. With this mission complete, he turned his attention towards academia. Mendoza left the AFFTC to attend graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley. The exposure to such a rich diversity of cultures and peoples at UC Berkeley combined with his upbringings to always respect and value people as individuals regardless of their gender, race, or color would serve him significantly in his future. Mendoza completed his Ph.D. with honors and has been with NASA Ames Research Center ever since. During his career at Ames, Mendoza has held many positions and responsibilities including system safety and mission assurance engineer, systems engineer, Lessons Learned Committee Chairperson, Knowledge Management Officer, Risk Management Officer, Mishap Review Board Chairperson, Quality Management System Manager, and Chief of the System Safety and Mission Assurance (SS&MA) Division. In addition, he has held Agency level positions as the NASA Deputy Technical Fellow for Quality Engineering and as the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Chief Engineer for NASA Ames. While his NASA career spans multiple decades, there is a common thread throughout his accomplishments in that they have all been in the service of others. He has authored many documents governing Ames' work and was among the earliest to transition Ames towards a risk-based approach to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the workforce’s efforts. He has been recognized via various awards and commendations for his contributes to agency-level documents in systems engineering and the SS&MA domains. Mendoza has been both an agent of change and a force multiplier during his career. His most recent efforts have contributed to Ames achieving, in SS&MA, what other institutions sometimes need double and triple the staff to achieve. He has accomplished this by valuing and championing employee empowerment, trust, and diversity. While building on his own history - which ran through the farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley, the nation’s breadbasket and landing place for many immigrants; the high desert of the Mojave, the gateway to the frontier of space; and the halls of UC Berkeley - he built one of Ames' most diverse and inclusive technical organizations. Mendoza considers this to be his most significant accomplishment to date. As Hispanic Heritage Month is Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, the Hispanic Advisory Committee for Employees, or HACE, is excited to feature Dr. Donald Mendoza and celebrates his family; his significant impact in aerospace research propelling the nation; and his commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility - opening doors for others and advancing NASA.