Kenneth Souza

1943 - 2016

Kenneth A. Souza

Dec 12, 1943 - Mar 22, 2016

A leader and pioneer in space life sciences, Kenneth A. Souza, 72, of Cupertino, died unexpectedly on March 22. Over a 50-year career at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Souza was a visionary in the advancement of gravitational and space biology as a research scientist, administrator, and mentor. His NASA career started in 1966, conducting one of the center's earliest life science spaceflight experiments on Gemini 11. In 1992, his frog egg experiment on the Space Shuttle Endeavor provided the first evidence that a vertebrate species can reproduce in the absence of gravity.

In addition to his scientific discoveries, Ken provided leadership that led to the establishment of space life sciences as a field of research both nationally and internationally. He was a founding member and past President of the American Society for Gravitational Space Research.

Souza is survived by his wife of 48 years, Mary Wold Souza; children Adam Souza (Chelsey Piasentin) of San Jose, and Katherine Souza of Cupertino; grandchildren Owen and Bennett Souza; father Walter Souza of Castro Valley; and siblings Cheryl Jungers of Rogers, AR; and Michael Souza of Hayward.

Funeral services and reception will be Saturday, April 2 at 11 a.m. at St. Jude Episcopal Church, 20920 McClellan Road, Cupertino.

During his NASA career, Souza managed many of the nation's most important space and gravitational biology flight research programs. Teams of scientists and engineers led by Souza developed and flew more than 400 life sciences experiments on the Project Gemini, Space Shuttle, Russian Mir, and International Space Station platforms. He also pioneered successful collaborations with scientists in the former Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Much of what scientists now know about the effects of space flight on living systems was learned in experiments that were conducted under his tutelage.

Born and raised in East Oakland, Souza graduated from Oakland Castlemont High in 1961. He received his AB degree in Bacteriology from UC Berkeley in 1966 and Masters Degree in Microbiology from San Jose State University in 1971.

Souza published more than 100 scientific articles and received a variety of scientific and management awards, including NASA's Exceptional Achievement Medal in 1980 and the Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1991 and 1998. In 1991, he received a scientific achievement award from the Institute of Biomedical Problems, Ministry of Health of the USSR. He was the 2010 recipient of the Jeffries Aerospace and Life Sciences Research Award, awarded by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Ken was an avid sportsman dating back to his high school baseball career at Castlemont High School in East Oakland in the early 1960's. In later years he shared his passion for skiing, golf, boating and sport fishing with his grandsons.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to ASGSR, for the Ken Souza Memorial Student Space Flight Program. For info, go to ASGSR.org.