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September 21, 2018
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: Auburn Alumni Center

TAKING NEIL ARMSTRONG TO HOLLYWOOD

James R. Hansen is Professor Emeritus of History in Auburn University’s Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts. An expert in aerospace history and the history of science and technology, Hansen has published a dozen books and numerous articles covering a wide variety of topics, including the early days of aviation, the history of aerospace engineering, NASA, the Moon landings, the Space Shuttle program and China’s role in space. His book, First Man (Simon and Schuster, 2005, 2012, 2018), is the only authorized biography of Neil Armstrong, and spent three weeks as a New York Times Bestseller in 2005. The book garnered a number of major book awards and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Translations of First Man have been published, or are forthcoming, in more than 20 languages. A Universal Studios film adaptation of the book hits the silver screen in national release on Oct. 12, with Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle (La La Land) directing the film, and actor Ryan Gosling starring as Armstrong. Hansen served as co-producer for the film. On Aug. 29, the film premiered to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival and has already created Oscar buzz.

Over the years, Hansen has served on a number of important advisory boards and panels, including the Research Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum, Editorial Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Institution Press and Advisory Board for the Archives of Aerospace Exploration at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is also a past vice-president of the Virginia Air and Space Museum in Hampton, Virginia. For the past 10 years, he has served on the National Air and Space Museum Trophy Selection Board. His experience as an academician and public speaker has been wide-ranging both topically and geographically, frequently serving as keynote speaker, panelist and lecturer on a wide variety of topics in the history of science and technology.

Hansen is also an internationally known expert on the history of golf course architecture. His 2014 book A Difficult Par: Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Making of Modern Golf (Gotham) won the Herbert Warren Wind Award from the United States Golf Association as the best golf book of the year.

A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Hansen graduated summa cum laude and with High Honors from Indiana University at Fort Wayne. He earned his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University in 1981. Hansen taught history at Auburn University from 1986 to his retirement in May 2017. Both his teaching and his scholarship received numerous awards from the university, including induction into the College of Liberal Arts Teaching Hall of Fame. Students who earned graduate degrees under Hansen’s direction hold, or have held, positions at the University of Central Florida, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Air and Space Museum, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Air Force Air War College and with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.