John MacLeod:  

The (now) picture was taken in the summer of 2008 in the dinghy (Chelsea) for our boat (Chesapeake). The boats were named after two, Yorkie litter mates who recently went to "Doggie Heaven." My wife, Reba, and I live in a waterfront house on Orcas Island and Reba's mother lives in our guest house. After graduation from Shoreline HS in '59, I attended Seattle Pacific College (majoring in engineering physics) for a year. Then, I transferred to the U of W and majored in Electrical Engineering. I married early in my senior year (1963), received a BSEE degree in 1964 and then went to work for NASA in Houston, Texas. While at NASA I continued with post graduate studies at Rice University and the University of Houston at Clear Lake. At NASA, I created the system design for the Apllo ground communications network - a new (and, at the time, radical) design that replaced ground controllers with computers and concentrated flight control in the Mission Control Center in Houston. I was in Mission Control when we first landed on the moon, during Apollo 13 and later, when Skylab had a catastrophic launch. I had many friends on the Challenger, clearly the worst memory of my time with NASA. In my last NASA position, I had technical management responsibility for the design and development of the Space Shuttle communications and data system. I received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for design of the TDRSS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System) and a high level award from NSA (National Security Agency) for design of the Space Shuttle's encryption and command authentication system. While at NASA, I married Reba in 1977 - probably the best thing I ever did. We have now been married for 32 wonderful years! After twenty years, I left NASA and co-founded a couple of high tech companies specializing in the design of advanced communications system. We designed the world's first direct broadcast satellite system and also the first satellite communications system for semi-submersible (floating) drill rigs. Next, I was co-founder of a San Diego company that designed and operated this country's first nationwide, wireless text messaging company and the world's first ...Expand for more