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James R. Hansen has written about aerospace history and the history of technology for the past twenty-three years. Jim has published books and articles on a wide variety of topics ranging from the early days of aviation, the first nuclear fusion reactors, the Moon landings, to the environmental history of golf courses. In 1995 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration nominated his book Spaceflight Revolution for a Pulitzer Prize, the only time NASA has ever made such a nomination. His book From the Ground Up (1988) won the History Book Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His scholarship has also been honored with the Robert H. Goddard Award from the National Space Club and certificates of distinction from the Air Force Historical Foundation. His newest books, The Bird is on the Wing (Texas A&M University Press) and The Wind and Beyond (NASA) explore the role of aerodynamics in the progress of the airplane in America. The latter is the first in a six volume series prepared by Hansen and a team of his graduate students for NASA. Currently, Jim is at work on the authorized biography of Neil A. Armstrong.

Dr. Hansen has served on a number of important advisory boards and panels, including the Research Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum, the Editorial Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Institution Press, and the 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.

A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, he earned his Ph.D. at Ohio State University in 1981. Students who have earned graduate degrees under Hansen's direction at Auburn currently hold positions at the 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.

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