HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – The former CEO of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Deborah Barnhart, died Wednesday morning.
Members of her family told WAFF 48 News that she passed away at Huntsville Hospital following a recent cancer diagnosis.
Deborah Barnhart(Source: WAFF)
Barnhart led the USSRC for nine years before stepping down in 2019.
She also served as director of Space Camp from 1986 to 1990.
Her career spans three decades of service in commercial industry, government, areospace and defense.
A retired Navy Captain (0-6), she was one of the first ten women assigned to duty abroad ships and commanded five units in her 26-year career.
Barnhart was also heavily involved in the arts in Huntsville.
She grew up in Westlawn and was the artist who designed the park and welded the statues and exhibits for Rose Park.
“Deborah was a great friend. I am glad her sculptures in the Westlawn neighborhood will live on indefinitely as a permanent memorial to her,” Huntsville City Councilman Bill Kling said.
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