Friends of NASA Leadership & Management

Dwayne Elliot Lawrence

Friends of NASA Founder and Executive Director

Dwayne is a dedicated space advocate, social entrepreneur, science enthusiast and promoter of STEM education. He is a lifelong supporter of NASA and a great fan of the late Dr. Carl Sagan. Sagan inspired him to study physics and astronomy and to explore the fascinating wonders of life and the universe. 
STEM: Science, Technology Engineering & Math

Friends of NASA was founded in 2008 by Dwayne in honor of the 50th anniversary of NASA’s establishment on July 29th, 1958 by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and as a salute to NASA's multi-agency Phoenix Mars Mission. The Phoenix Lander, built by Lockheed Martin, was the first spacecraft to successfully reach a Martian polar region and the first to directly confirm the presence of water ice on the Martian surface.

Today, Friends of NASA has grown to over 19,000 professional members worldwide from over 50 countries and is expanding its 150,000+ public followers on social media. Our shared multimedia web content has received  over 700 million views (Google verified) and counting!

Dwayne is a science and technology analyst and communicator with a strong interdisciplinary background in marketing, media, Internet and telecommunications. He graduated with a Bachelors degree in Science & Technology Studies from the University of Toronto in 1993.

For over 30 years, Dwayne has been an enthusiastic supporter of NASA, space exploration and of planetary science as a member of The Planetary Society (a U.S. non-profit and space advocacy organization) co-founded by Dr. Carl Sagan, Dr. Louis Friedman & Dr. Bruce Murray in 1980.

In 2003, Dwayne produced and narrated a documentary series on the history of international space exploration for China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing, featuring NASA's many accomplishments. He worked in China for 5 years (2003-2008).

In April 2008, he represented The Planetary Society's former Executive Director Louis Friedman at a Global Space Development Summit in Beijing in meetings with a U.S. congressional delegation, Chinese space agency officials and envoys from Russia & India. The Summit organizers were the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA).

Dwayne is the proud father of a sixteen-year-old son.

Memberships: 
The Planetary Society, Canadian Space Society (CSS), Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), International Space Fellowship, International Space University Friends
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/DwayneLawrence