Dennis O. Hines

Dennis O. Hines was the director for Programs and Projects at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, from 2008 to 2017. He was responsible for the advocacy, formulation and implementation of center flight projects, policy and business management of Armstrong’s programs. Hines died February 1, 2017.

Hines brought to his role at NASA Armstrong a broad base of program management experience with the Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Air Force Test Center (AFTC) at Edwards Air Force Base, both of which extended back almost three decades.

During the more than five years with the Missile Defense Agency, Hines served as deputy system executive officer for Ballistic Missile Defense, director of Ballistic Missile Defense System Integration and director of Target and Countermeasure Requirements.

In his first assignment with that agency, Hines oversaw programmatic execution of eight major engineering development programs with a combined annual budget of more than $7 billion. He established policy, provided acquisition guidance, directed program activities and was an adviser for cost, schedule and technical performance of Missile Defense Agency programs.

As director of Ballistic Missile Defense System Integration, Hines led a 40-person group responsible for directing the integration of engineering, programmatic and operational aspects of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. His efforts included the development of the first agency-level Integrated Master Schedule and the formulation and execution of the agency’s Program Management Board. In his final role with the agency, Hines was responsible for all systems engineering and technical analysis required to define ballistic missile targets and countermeasures needed for missile defense system flight testing.

For 22 years, Hines served in a variety of leadership positions at the AFTC, which began in 1981 when he was responsible for all stability and control planning and conduct of the joint Air Force/NASA Advanced Fighter Technology Integrated F-16 program. He also flew as a flight test engineer on T-38, F-4 and F-104 aircraft. As a civilian flight test engineer, Hines managed a variety of flight test programs, ranging from the F-16 Block 40 testing to the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile. He also served in a variety of project management roles, and finally as director of the Project Management Directorate from November 2001 through February 2003.

Hines earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and master’s degrees in systems management from the University of Southern California and in mechanical engineering from California State University, Northridge. He was a member of the Society of Flight Test Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.