MEDIA RELEASE

Frank Schowengerdt brought space research, education to Hawaii Dr. Franklin Dean Schowengerdt, UH-H professor and former NASA program director, died of cancer Feb. 12 in Alexandria, Va. He was 77.

Schowengerdt was a physics professor at Colorado School of Mines for 30 years. There, he founded a NASA-funded combustion research center and served as director for seven years.

In 2003, he went to NASA headquarters as Director of Space Product Development and was Senior Advisor for Innovative Partnerships.

In 2007, he became the first Director of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, PISCES, at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, where he was an adjunct professor.

He helped design the concept of an International Lunar Research Park on Hawaii Island, now being developed with funding from the State of Hawaii. He also served on the board of the Japan-U.S. Science, Technology, and Space Applications Program.

Schowengerdt is survived by his wife Ellen, of Alexandria, Va.; a daughter, Anna Kristine, of Baltimore, Md.; a son, John Stephen, of New York, N.Y.; a brother, Richard Neal, of Costa Mesa, Calif.; and many nieces, nephews and cousins in Missouri, Arizona and California.

Memorial contributions may be made online to the UH-Hilo Frank Schowengerdt Memorial PISCES account (#125-9480-4), https://giving.uhfoundation.org/give/giving-gift.aspx?allocation= 12594804.