Joseph C. Mills

From the fall of 2003 to the spring of 2004, Mills was in charge of Boeing's JIMO Phase A Trade and Concept Design Study, working in Pasadena, California, for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, one of the world's largest defense and space businesses. Boeing hoped to win the JPL contract to co-design, develop, build, launch, and operate JIMO. However in the fall of 2004, Northrop Grumman Space Technology was awarded the contract.

Mills stayed on at Canoga Park as vice president and executive focal of Boeing's space science initiative, one of four NASA initiatives to which a Boeing executive was assigned as the focal contact between the company and NASA. In this position Mills helped plan Boeing's future undertakings in space.

In 2002 Mills was named Aviation Week's Laureate of the Year for Space, in recognition of his contributions to the ISS. In 2004 he was awarded the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Stellar Award—also known as the NASA Rotary Stellar Award for Late Career Achievement—for his nine years of leading the Boeing ISS program and his contributions to the development and delivery of every major ISS component and system. Mills also was recognized with Black Engineer's 2004 Pioneer Award for his work on the ISS. The Pioneer Award is reserved for engineers who have made contributions to areas in which very few black Americans have worked. Dr. Joseph C. Mills retired from the Boeing Company in March of 2005, devoting more time to his family, to volunteering in the community, and to playing golf.