Henning Leidecker

1941 - 2023

Henning Leidecker

September 9, 1941 - October 30, 2023

Henning William Leidecker, Jr., 82, died from the ravages of osteosarcoma on October 30, 2023, at his home in Charlottesville, VA, surrounded by his wife Allene, son Jon, and sisters Dorothy (Bonny) Ely and Mary Pazos. Amazingly, he continued working at NASA until shortly before he died, reaching for paper so he could jot down one more formula, one last idea.

He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 9, 1941, to Henning William Leidecker, Sr., and Catherine Ann Beardsley Leidecker. His parents and younger brother, Alan, predeceased Henning. He is survived by his loving wife, Allene Wright; his first wife, Martha Krebs and their son, Jon; sisters Dorothy Ely (Herb); Mary Pazos (Felipe); sister-in-law Marilyn (Alan's wife), three nieces, seven nephews, and their spouses and children. He considered Herb's sister, Barbara Ritter, and her husband, Jerry, as family.

Henning graduated from St. Anthony's High School in Washington, DC, in 1959, earned a bachelor's degree in physics in 1963 and a Ph.D. in physics in 1968 from the Catholic University of America.

Henning became a tenured professor at American University (AU) in Washington, D.C., and was especially proud of the science courses he developed for non-science majors. While there, he oversaw the graduation of 10 Ph.D. candidates and several master's students.

In 1985, after 17 years at AU, Henning's career took him to NASA'S Goddard Space Flight Center, where he focused on Electronics Parts Failure Analyses and became a Senior Fellow. When things failed, colleagues intoned, "Call Henning," as his reputation was legendary. His LinkedIn profile contained one sentence: "I recognize problems and solve them." Henning became a world-renowned expert in tin whiskers. He was vital in investigating electrical faults caused by whiskers on the Space Shuttle in the 1990s, during the Toyota Unintended Acceleration Investigation in 2011, and on the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer in 2012. He made two significant contributions to the knowledge of tin whiskers: a 25-year study demonstrating the effectiveness of conformal coating against whiskers and a website that educates engineers about them. Because of Henning's efforts, people worldwide have benefited from the high reliability of electronics.

Henning often wrapped his physics-based observations and conclusions in colorful stories that illustrated how to think about the physics of failure and how to mitigate the failure modes. He taught a whole generation how to think, not what to think. His work was critical to the success of the Hubble and Webb space telescopes and weather satellites. With over 55 publications and multiple patents, Henning was widely recognized as an expert in electronics reliability. Henning received nearly every award that NASA grants its technical leaders. Key examples include the QASAR Award for Safety & Mission Assurance for 1999 and 2000, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2003, and the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal in 2005. Astronauts gave him a Silver Snoopy award for contributions to flight safety in 2010. He also received The NASA Silver Achievement Metal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

Aside from his work with NASA, Henning served the community as vice chair of the board of directors of the Ethiopian Community Development Council.

Henning's love of science, especially outer space, began as a toddler. When his mother wasn't looking, he would climb the picket fence and run down the sidewalk, trying to catch the moon. Since that didn't work, he snuck next door and climbed the neighbor's ladder to the roof, hoping against hope to reach the moon. Henning was blessed with an exceptional intellect, and he shared his excitement, sense of humor, patience, wisdom, and insatiable thirst for knowledge with everyone. He made learning and sharing what he discovered an adventure for himself, family members, students, colleagues, the educated, and the not-so-educated. He loved a good joke, and his laughter could fill a room. Henning is deeply missed.