U. S. Centennial of Flight - Official Centennial Partners

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U.S. Centennial of Flight Commissioners
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General John R. Dailey

Commission Chair

Director of the National Air and Space Museum

John R. (Jack) Dailey, retired United States Marine Corps general and pilot, assumed the duties of director of the National Air and Space Museum in January 2000. General Dailey comes to the Museum from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where he had been the Associate Deputy Administrator since retiring from the United States Marine Corps in 1992. At NASA, he led the Agency's reinvention activities.

His career in the Marine Corps spanned thirty-six years and included extensive command and staff experience. He has flown over 6,000 hours in a wide variety of aircraft and helicopters. During two tours in Vietnam, he flew 450 missions. He was promoted to the rank of general and named Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1990. He has numerous personal decorations for his service in the Marine Corps and NASA.

While at NASA, General Dailey served on the President's Management Council, co-chaired the Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board, and was a national delegate to the Research and Technology Organization supporting NATO. He also serves as national commander of the Marine Corps Aviation Association and is a member of the Early and Pioneer Naval Aviators Association ("Golden Eagles").

General Dailey will lead the effort to open a 710,000-square-foot-facility at Washington Dulles International Airport, which will display more than 180 aircraft and 100 spacecraft currently in storage.

The National Air and Space Museum, which opened in 1976, is home to many of the "firsts" in aviation and space history, including the Wright brothers' Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, and the Apollo 11 command module Columbia. With nearly 10 million visitors a year, it is the most popular museum in the world.

General Dailey was born on February 17, 1934, in Quantico, Virginia, and earned his bachelor of science degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1956. He and his wife, the former Mimi Rodian of Copenhagen, Denmark, live in Fairfax, Virginia. They have two grown children, Lisa Bader and Nils Dailey.