Dr. Joseph N. Pelton
Joseph N. Pelton, Ph.D., is the Chairman of the Board of the Alliance for Collaboration in the Exploration of Space (ACES Worldwide). He is the Dean emeritus and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Space University. He is the Founder of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation and the founding President of the Society of Satellite Professionals International—now known as the Space and Satellite Professionals International (SSPI).
Dr. Pelton currently serves on the Executive Board of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety. He is the Director Emeritus of the Space and Advanced Communications Research Institute (SACRI) at George Washington University, where he also served as Director of the Accelerated Masters’ Program in Telecommunications and Computers from 1998 to 2004.
Educational Background
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PhD. in Political Science and International Affairs, Georgetown University, 1972
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MA in International Relations, New York University, 1967
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B.S. in Physics, University of Tulsa, 1965
Previously, he headed the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Dr. Pelton has also served as President of the International Space Safety Foundation and President of the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN). Earlier in his career, he held a number of executive and management positions at COMSAT and INTELSAT, the global satellite organization where he was Director of Strategic Policy.
A prolific author and futurist, Dr. Pelton has now published over 70 books and over 400 articles, encyclopedia entries, op-ed pieces and other research publications during his career. He has been speaker on national media in the U.S. (PBS News Hour, Public Radio’s All Things Considered, ABC, and CBS) and internationally on BBC, CBC, and FR-3. He has spoken and testified before Congress, the United Nations, and delivered talks in over 40 countries around the world. His honors include the Sir Arthur Clarke, International Achievement Award of the British Interplanetary Society; the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award; the ICA Educator’s award; the ISCe Excellence in Education Award; and being elected to the International Academy of Astronautics. Most recently, in 2017, he won the Da Vinci Award of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety and the Guardian Award of the Lifeboat Foundation. This award has also gone to astronauts, Elon Musk, Warren Buffet and Prince Charles. This Guardian Award was received in recognition of Prof. Pelton’s work on Cosmic Hazards and Planetary Defense.
Dr. Pelton is a Full member of the International Academy of Astronautics, Who’s Who in America, SSPI Hall of Fame, Lifeboat Foundation, Fellow of the IAASS, and Associate Fellow of the AIAA. Pelton’s Global Talk won the Eugene Emme Literature Award of the International Astronautics Association and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. His most recent books are:
Space Systems and Sustainability, Preparing for the Next Cyber Revolution, Space 2.0: Revolutionary Advances in the Space Industry, The New Gold Rush: The Riches of Space Beckon, The Handbook of Small Satellites, Global Space Governance: An International Study, and the second editions of The Handbook of Satellite Applications and The Farthest Shore: A 21st Century Guide to Space.
He received his degrees from the University of Tulsa, New York University and from Georgetown University, where he received his doctorate.