Friends of NASA Leadership & Management

Dwayne Elliot Lawrence
Friends of NASA Executive Director, Editor-in-Chief & Founder

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

Dwayne's LinkedIn Profile: 

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. This inspiring U.S.-led Mars mission demonstrated international cooperation with partners from Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

Today, Friends of NASA has grown to over 22,000 professional members worldwide from over 50 countries and is expanding its 210,000+ 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 Bachelor's degree in Science & Technology Studies from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.

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. At CCTV-9, Dwayne served as a p
rogram host, narrator, and science writer/editor for two major programs: "Nature & Science" and "Documentary", along with special news features. He was also selected to cover the launch of China's first astronaut Yang Liwei on the historic Shenzhou-5 Mission in October 2003 when China became the third country in the world to have an independent human spaceflight capability after the Soviet Union (Russia) and the United States. Dwayne was the first foreign host of CCTV's flagship "Documentary" series. He worked in China for 5 years (2003-2008).
CCTV-9 Science & Documentary Unit 
Demo Reel (2003-2004)
Voiceover Examples (1:47-3:40)
Thanks to my former CCTV-9 colleagues in Beijing: Helen (Video Editor), Michael (Voiceovers) and Susan (Production Assistant)!

In April 2008, Dwayne 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 an nineteen-year-old son.


Testimonials: 
"Your organization, 'Friends of NASA,' serves as a vital link between NASA, academia, and the private aerospace community."
—Joseph A. Sholtis
Founder & Principal, Sholtis Engineering & Safety Consulting 


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