Richard Gardner Rhoades died peacefully at home on September 1, 2016. He was born in Northampton, Massachusetts on August 15, 1938 to Lawrence Duncan and Marion Hollister Rhoades. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Dale Turner Rhoades; daughters Lawren Paul (Rodney) of Huntsville, Elizabeth “Liz” Rhoades (Tobias Baumgart) of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and Lee Sugg (Wes) of Charlotte, North Carolina; seven grandchildren: Shelby Norris, Wesley Hulgan, Tommy and Nathan Rhoades, Gracie, Sarah, and Copper Sugg; great-grandchildren, Savannah Jackson and Claira Ferry; sister Cynthia Kulevich (Joe) of Maynard, Massachusetts; brother Jonathan Rhoades of Santa Barbara, California; nieces Suzanne Kulevich of Seattle, Washington, and Julie Mastroe (Andy) of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Dick graduated from Northampton High School in 1956 where he lettered in football, ice hockey, and baseball. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in l960 with a BS in Chemical Engineering and in l964 with a PhD in Chemical Engineering and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management in 1977. Upon his graduation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1960, he was commissioned into the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant .
In 1963, Dick began his Army career in uniform, serving as an Ordnance Officer until 1965. He then became a civilian propulsion research engineer and technology program manager. Dick was selected for his first Senior Executive Service position as the Director of Propulsion. Subsequently, he served in both of the Research, Development, and Engineering Center’s Associate Director positions – first as the Associate Director for Technology and then as the Associate Director for Systems. As such, he was responsible for all of the Center’s activities in support of weapon system development, acquisition, and sustainment. Dick functioned as “Chief Operating Officer” of the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), focusing on strategic and business planning, personnel development, and customer relations issues.
Dick was “at his core” a teacher of AMRDEC employees and of his UAH graduate students. Nineteen years after his retirement from AMRDEC, numerous employees are still using many of his procedures because “the Dr. Rhoades’ processes still work.” While teaching at UAH, Dick received two Outstanding Graduate Teaching Awards.
In addition to his normal assignments, Dick served on a number of senior-level ad-hoc groups within the Department of Defense. In so doing, he played a leadership role over several decades in the development and implementation of strategy for fundamentally restructuring and improving the DOD’s science and technology organizations.
In 1997, Dick became Director of the Werner Von Braun Research Institute and was appointed to the faculties of the Colleges of Engineering and Administrative Science as Professor of Management in Engineering. In 2013, he stepped down to become the Principal Research Engineer of the Von Braun Research Institute. He served as the principal investigator on several engineering research programs and as an adviser on propulsion and systems engineering to Army and Missile Defense Agency project managers. Dick was a Research Professor of Management and taught courses in the MBA program. He published numerous articles on propulsion and management topics and held two patents on propulsion inventions.
In his professional career, Dick was a professional engineer and a member of Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society. He was active in the American Chemical Society, National Defense Industrial Association, Association of the U.S. Army, and Chemical Propulsion Information Agency and served as chairman of the Joint Army, Navy, NASA, and Air Force Executive Committee.
Among the many awards that Dick received were three Presidential Rank Awards, three Superior/Meritorious/Exceptional Civilian Service Awards, two MICOM and AMC Commander’s Awards, American Defense Preparedness Association Firepower Award, MIT Brooks Prize for Best Thesis, UAH Alumni Award for Outstanding Leadership in Government, National Defense Industrial Association John B. Medaris Award, and two UAH College of Administrative Science Outstanding Graduate Teaching Awards.
Dick was an active member in military and civic organizations. He belonged to Monte Sano United Methodist Church and now to First United Methodist Church, and Rotary Club. He was a longtime usher for Broadway Theater League and Theater Huntsville. He was an avid stamp collector, a voracious reader, golfer and gardener. He enjoyed skiing and was an active member of the U.S. Ski Patrol.
The private burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.
The family has asked that any donations be made to the UAHuntsville Foundation, Shelbie King Hall in Huntsville, 35899; First United Methodist Church; Monte Sano United Methodist Church or any charity that supports U.S. military veterans (Still Serving Veterans, Fisher House, or Disabled American Veterans).
