Goldin, set to lead BU, cited for role

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff, 8/27/2003

Many of the management problems at NASA detailed in yesterday's report on the Columbia tragedy, including hefty cost-cutting and privatization that ultimately affected safety, have their roots in the tenure of former NASA chief Daniel S. Goldin, who takes over the presidency of Boston University this fall.

As the longest-serving head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, from 1992 to 2001, Goldin made his reputation by advocating an approach to space exploration known as "faster, better, cheaper." Under heavy political pressure to cut costs, he pushed the agency hard to trim the budget without trimming expectations.

"When I ask for the budget to be cut, I'm told it's going to impact safety on the space shuttle," he told an audience in 1994, according to the Gehman commission report released yesterday. "I think that's a bunch of crap."

Although the report by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board does not single out any individuals for criticism, it names Goldin frequently and describes his tenure as a period of "continuous turmoil." He brought new management techniques, cut the NASA work force by 25 percent, and triggered the resignation of the head of the shuttle program, Bryan O'Connor, who warned that management changes were reinstituting flaws that had been eliminated after the Challenger explosion in 1986.

Goldin did not return calls for comment yesterday. A BU spokesman said administrators had not yet read the report.

BU's trustees were drawn to Goldin as a strong leader who could help steer the city's largest university after the three-decade leadership of president John Silber, who steps down this fall. Trustee chairman Christopher Barreca last month called Goldin "the independent, visionary leader we need." Goldin has publicly acknowledged his brash, fiery style, and, according to officials, told trustees that the secret of his success was "taking personal responsibility for everything I did."

In some areas, the Columbia report echoes the warm assessments of the university's leaders. It notes that Goldin "made many positive changes in his decade at NASA," helping to defend the space program's continued importance after the Cold War and streamlining a bloated agency.

Many of the changes he made, say observers, were driven by White House and congressional budget decisions.

"Don't blame him. He tried very hard to work between a rock and a hard place," said Howard E. McCurdy of American University, author of a book on the "faster, better, cheaper" program.

The report did, however, say that Goldin's priorities shifted money away from the shuttle program, in part to put more emphasis on other projects like the space station and human exploration of Mars.

Goldin also approved broad outsourcing of work on the space shuttle, including much responsibility for safety, to a private contractor. This transformation weakened NASA's institutional knowledge and skills and "rendered NASA's already problematic safety system simultaneously weaker and more complex," the report said.

In 1999, Goldin waved a warning flag. In a letter to the White House, he declared a "Space Launch Crisis," and said the budget for shuttle upgrades fell short of what was required for safety.

Former NASA chief historian Roger D. Launius said yesterday that in hindsight, Goldin should have made that kind of declaration four or five years earlier.

Goldin also had a habit of "shooting the messenger," Launius said. "That led to a culture of fear," said Launius, now at the National Air and Space Museum. "People didn't want to bring him information they knew he wouldn't like, and that's a very dangerous thing." Launius added, however, that he believes NASA would be in worse shape today without the shakeup that Goldin brought.

Richard B. DeWolfe, former chairman of the BU Board of Trustees, said he had not seen yesterday's report.

"It hasn't raised any concerns," he said, speaking for himself and not the board.

Barreca and several other trustees could not be reached yesterday. Another trustee, Melvin B. Miller, declined to comment.

Jenna Russell of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Marcella Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri

@globe.com