Gwynne Shotwell Explained

Gwynne Shotwell
Birth Name:Gwynne Rowley
Birth Date:1963 11, mf=yes
Birth Place:Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Education:Northwestern University (BS, MS)
Spouse:Leon Gurevich (div.)
Robert Shotwell
Children:2
President and chief operating officer of SpaceX

Gwynne Shotwell (Rowley, previously Gurevich; born November 23, 1963[1]) is an American businesswoman and engineer. She is the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, an American space transportation company, where she is responsible for day-to-day operations and company growth.[2]

, Shotwell is listed as the 28th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[3] She was ranked 54th on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.[4] In 2020, Time magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.[5] In 2018, she was listed as the most powerful female engineer by Business Insider.[6]

Early life

Shotwell was born in Evanston, Illinois, as the middle of three daughters to a brain surgeon and an artist, and was raised in Libertyville, Illinois. In 1982, she graduated from Libertyville High School.[7] In 1969, she watched a television broadcast of the Apollo 11 mission with her family, but remembers finding it "boring" and was not interested in space at the time. Shotwell excelled in both academics and athletics in high school, where she was on the cheerleading and varsity basketball teams while achieving at the top of her class. Her interests changed during high school after her mother took her to a panel discussion at the Illinois Institute of Technology by the Society of Women Engineers, where a mechanical engineer in particular inspired Shotwell to become an engineer.[8] [9] Following this, she decided to apply to Northwestern University, where she received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering, and later a Master of Science degree in applied mathematics.[10] [11]

Career

At the beginning of her career, Shotwell had an interview with IBM on the day of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which disturbed her and she did not get a job offer. Instead, Shotwell took a job in the automotive industry at Chrysler Corporation's management training program, which she initially enjoyed[11] but later grew tired of[10] and left to return to Northwestern for her graduate degree.[12]

In 1988, Shotwell began work at the El Segundo research center of The Aerospace Corporation, and did technical work on military space research and development contracts. An early project she worked on was STS-39.[11] During a ten-year tenure, she worked in thermal analysis.[10] Shotwell worked in both space systems engineering and project management positions.[13]

She left The Aerospace Corporation in 1998 to become director of the space systems division at Microcosm Inc., a small rocket company in El Segundo.[10] There, she served on the executive committee and was responsible for business development.[14]

SpaceX

Shotwell left Microcosm in 2002 to join SpaceX, a private, commercial, space exploration company founded by Elon Musk in the same year. She was introduced to Musk through her former Microcosm colleague Hans Koenigsmann who had joined SpaceX.[15] In that meeting, she convinced Musk that SpaceX should hire a dedicated employee to work on business development full-time, but had not planned to join the company herself. Shotwell took the job two weeks later in September 2002.[16] In December 2008, Shotwell was promoted to company president following her role in the successful negotiation of the first Commercial Resupply Services contract with the NASA Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier.[17] This followed SpaceX's first successful launch of the Falcon 1 on its fourth attempt earlier in the year.[18] She was responsible for leading the effort on building the Falcon Vehicle manifest to over 50 launches, generating $5 billion in revenue. This included a commercial connection to the International Space Station for resupplying services, where they were able to deliver cargo and supplies to the astronauts. Shotwell is the President and COO of SpaceX, responsible for day-to-day operations and managing all customer and strategic relations to support company growth.

She oversaw the first landing of an orbital rocket's first stage on land and on an ocean platform, the first relaunch and landing of a used orbital rocket, the first controlled flyback and recovery of a payload fairing, and the first re-flight of a commercial cargo spacecraft. SpaceX has a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA to deliver astronauts and science instruments to the International Space Station. On May 30, 2020, SpaceX became the first private company to launch two astronauts to Earth orbit.[19]

In February 2019, Polaris Industries announced that Shotwell would join their board of directors in March 2019.[20]

Shotwell has served on the California Space Authority Board of Directors and its executive committee after she was elected in 2004. She has served as an officer on the AIAA Space Systems Technical Committee and participates in a variety of STEM related programs. She led a committee that raised over $350,000 in scholarships for the Frank J. Redd Student Competition over 6 years.[21]

Shotwell has been criticized for her response to several alleged cases of sexism, sexual harassment and assault at SpaceX.[22] [23]

Starlink

In Ukraine

See main article: Starlink in the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Shotwell led negotiations with government agencies for requested Starlink satellite services in the country,[24] which were at first donated by SpaceX.[25] These arrangements were later formalized in a DoD contract to buy Starlink for Ukraine.[26] Earlier, Shotwell had announced that her company took measures to prevent the use of Starlink to control combat drones.[27] She stated Ukrainians had used the service in ways not part of the agreement, as she had accepted to donate Starlink satellite services for communications, defense and humanitarian purposes such as "ambulances, hospitals and mothers" but had not intended it to be weaponized for drone strikes.[28] [29]

Public outreach

Shotwell gave a TEDx Talk at TEDxChapmanU in June 2013 on the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.[30] She speaks regularly to business audiences and gave a talk for the "Captains of Industry" series at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security in June 2014 on private entrepreneurial accomplishments in advancing spaceflight technology.[31]

At the 2018 TED conference, Shotwell was interviewed by Chris Anderson about the future plans of SpaceX.

At the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing on September 28, 2018, Shotwell's talk was titled "Launching Our Future" and she discussed her vision and advancements for aerospace technology, as well as why diversity and the inclusion of women are necessary to advance as a society.

Personal life

Shotwell is married to an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has two children from a previous marriage with Leon Gurevich.[32] [33]

Honors and awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The CNBC Next List . October 6, 2014 . CNBC . October 19, 2023 . November 11, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231111141233/https://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/06/gwynne-shotwell.html . live .
  2. News: Gwynne Shotwell: Executive Profile & Biography . Business Week . Bloomberg . New York . December 1, 2011 . December 1, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130604195346/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=39083380&privcapId=7702894&previousCapId=7702894&previousTitle=Space%20Exploration%20Technologies%20Corp . dead . June 4, 2013 .
  3. Web site: The World's Most Powerful Women 2023 . Forbes . en.
  4. Web site: Most Powerful Women . Fortune . en.
  5. Sullivan. Kathryn. 22 September 2020. Gwynne Shotwell: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210116071313/https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888439/gwynne-shotwell/. January 16, 2021. 2020-09-23. Time.
  6. Web site: Bort & Sandler . Julie & Rachel . The 39 most powerful female engineers of 2018 . 2023-10-10 . Business Insider . en-US . July 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200701155355/https://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-powerful-female-engineers-of-2018-2018-4 . live .
  7. News: Vlastimil . Švancara . SpaceX Superstars: Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO . elonx.net . September 27, 2017 . February 28, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210228043215/https://www.elonx.net/spacex-superstars-gwynne-shotwell-president-and-coo/ . live .
  8. Web site: 2017-08-18 . Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the Woman Who Could Take Us to Mars - All Together . 2023-10-25 . en-US . November 1, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101165325/https://alltogether.swe.org/2017/08/meet-gwynne-shotwell/ . live .
  9. Book: Berger, Eric. Liftoff. William Morrow and Company. 2021. 978-0-06-297997-1. 99–100.
  10. News: Hennigan. W. J.. June 7, 2013. How I Made It: SpaceX exec Gwynne Shotwell. Los Angeles Times. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190802032142/https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2013-jun-07-la-fi-himi-spacex-20130609-story.html. 2019-08-02.
  11. Book: Berger, Eric. Liftoff. William Morrow and Company. 2021. 978-0-06-297997-1. 100–102.
  12. News: Strube. Frank. It all Started with a Suit: The Story Behind Shotwell's Rise to SpaceX - Via Satellite -. April 20, 2017. Via Satellite. April 21, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200302103209/https://www.satellitetoday.com/business/2014/04/21/it-all-started-with-a-suit-the-story-behind-shotwells-rise-to-spacex/ . 2020-03-02 . live.
  13. Web site: Gwynne Shotwell. 2021-06-17. SSPI. en. June 30, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210630022133/https://www.sspi.org/cpages/hof-shotwell. live.
  14. Web site: Gwynne Shotwell . 2023-11-11 . National Women's History Museum . en . November 11, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231111144340/https://www.womenshistory.org/2017-women-making-history-la/2017/gwynne-shotwell . live .
  15. Berger . Eric . March 2, 2021 . How Elon Musk Convinced Gwynne Shotwell to Join SpaceX . Wired . October 19, 2023 . November 11, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231111141233/https://www.wired.com/story/how-elon-musk-gwynne-shotwell-join-spacex/ . live .
  16. Book: Berger, Eric . Liftoff . William Morrow and Company. 2021. 978-0-06-297997-1. 95–97.
  17. News: Bergin . Chris . Planetspace officially protest NASA's CRS selection . 22 August 2023 . NSF . 15 January 2009 . August 22, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230822131211/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/01/planetspace-officially-protest-nasas-crs-selection/ . live .
  18. Book: Berger, Eric. Liftoff. William Morrow and Company. 2021. 978-0-06-297997-1. 217–222.
  19. Web site: Wattles. Jackie. May 30, 2020. SpaceX and NASA launch Crew Dragon in Florida: Live updates. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200829112802/https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/spacex-launch-today-may-30/index.html. August 29, 2020. May 31, 2020. CNN. en.
  20. Web site: Gwynne Shotwell Appointed to Polaris Industries Inc. Board of Directors. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201107232750/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190206005692/en/Gwynne-Shotwell-Appointed-Polaris-Industries-Board-Directors. November 7, 2020. February 9, 2019. Business Wire. February 6, 2019. Polaris Industries.
  21. Web site: WITI - Gwynne Shotwell. 2021-06-17. www.witi.com. November 14, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201114112810/https://www.witi.com/halloffame/309321/Gwynne-Shotwell-President-SpaceX/. live.
  22. Web site: Sheetz . Michael . Former SpaceX engineer alleges in essay that company culture is 'rife with sexism' . . 28 April 2023 . 14 December 2021 . March 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331162018/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/14/former-spacex-engineer-essay-alleges-culture-is-rife-with-sexism.html . live .
  23. Web site: Roulette . Joey . 14 December 2021 . Former Interns Say SpaceX Ignored Sexual Harassment . 28 April 2023 . . April 12, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230412022340/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/14/science/spacex-sexual-harassment.html . live .
  24. Web site: Foust . Jeff . 2023-02-09 . Shotwell: Ukraine "weaponized" Starlink in war against Russia . 2023-11-11 . SpaceNews . en-US.
  25. Web site: Marquardt . Alex . 2022-10-13 . Exclusive: Musk's SpaceX says it can no longer pay for critical satellite services in Ukraine, asks Pentagon to pick up the tab CNN Politics . 2023-11-11 . CNN . en . November 11, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231111144339/https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/13/politics/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-ukraine/index.html . live .
  26. News: Stone . Mike . Roulette . Joey . 2023-06-01 . SpaceX's Starlink wins Pentagon contract for satellite services to Ukraine . en . Reuters . 2023-06-01 . June 1, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230601190826/https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/pentagon-buys-starlink-ukraine-statement-2023-06-01/ . live .
  27. Web site: A. O. L. Staff . SpaceX limits Starlink use in Ukraine, company president says . 2023-02-10 . www.aol.com . February 9, 2023 . en-US.
  28. News: Roulette . Joey . 2023-02-09 . SpaceX curbed Ukraine's use of Starlink internet for drones -company president . en . Reuters . 2023-02-09 . February 9, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230209032450/https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/spacex-curbed-ukraines-use-starlink-internet-drones-company-president-2023-02-09/ . live .
  29. Web site: Mosley . Tonya . August 23, 2023 . Ronan Farrow says Elon Musk has become an 'arbiter' of the war in Ukraine . September 9, 2023 . www.npr.org . September 8, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230908183055/https://www.npr.org/2023/08/24/1195463008/ronan-farrow-says-elon-musk-has-become-an-arbiter-of-the-war-in-ukraine . live .
  30. Web site: Engineering America: Gwynne Shotwell at TEDxChapmanU . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210325174415/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THQPNDNulVc . March 25, 2021 . January 20, 2015 . Youtube . June 14, 2013 . TEDx Talks.
  31. Discussion with Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO, SpaceX . June 4, 2014 . Shotwell . Gwynne . Atlantic Council . 22:35–26:20 . June 9, 2014 . This [reusable launch vehicle technology], all this innovation is being done by SpaceX alone, no one is paying us to do it. The government is very interested in the data we are collecting on this test series. ... This is the kind of thing that entrepreneurial investment and new entrants/innovators can do for an industry: fund their own improvements, both in the quality of their programs and the quality of their hardware, and the speed and cadence of their operations. . January 25, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170125082949/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYocHwhfFDc . live .
  32. Web site: Gwynne Gurevich Vs Leon Gurevich .
  33. Web site: Švancara. Vlastimil. 27 September 2019. Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210228043215/https://www.elonx.net/spacex-superstars-gwynne-shotwell-president-and-coo/. February 28, 2021. December 11, 2020. ElonX.
  34. Web site: Holmes. Mark. Hill. Jeffrey. 2017 Satellite Executive of the Year: Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO, SpaceX. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20210502160401/http://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/march-2018/2017-satellite-executive-of-the-year-gwynne-shotwell-president-and-coo-spacex/. May 2, 2021. March 29, 2018.
  35. Web site: Gwynne Shotwell . . December 2, 2018 . June 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200605010741/https://www.forbes.com/profile/gwynne-shotwell/?list=top-tech-women-america . live .
  36. Gwynne Shotwell: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020. 2020-09-23. Time. January 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210116071313/https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888439/gwynne-shotwell/. live.
  37. Web site: A Conversation With Gwynne Shotwell, 2020 Satellite Executive of the Year. 1 May 2021. May 1, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210501100844/http://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/may-2021/a-conversation-with-gwynne-shotwell-2020-satellite-executive-of-the-year/. live.

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