Dr. John S. Langford is the President and C.E.O. of Aurora Flight Sciences

Aurora Flight Sciences

Aurora Flight Sciences specializes in the design and construction of unmanned aircraft. Aurora has been established for 20+ years and their headquarters is at the Manassas Airport in Manassas, VA.-History:...

. Langford founded Aurora Flight Sciences in 1989 in order to design and manufacture high altitude UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicle

An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...

 that could be used for global climate change research. In 2004, Langford received Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

’s Outstanding Industrialist award for his contribution to business development in Virginia.

Education and career

Langford received his Ph.D. from MIT in the field of aeronautics

Aeronautics

Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...

 and public policy

Public policy

Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...

. He also received Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in aeronautics and astronautics

Astronautics

Astronautics, and related astronautical engineering, is the theory and practice of navigation beyond the Earth's atmosphere. In other words, it is the science and technology of space flight....

 and a Master of Science in defense policy and arms control from MIT.

While he was a student at MIT, Langford managed the MIT Daedalus

MIT Daedalus

The MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's Daedalus was a human-powered aircraft that, on 23 April 1988, flew a distance of 71.5 mi in 3 hours, 54 minutes, from Iraklion on the island of Crete to the island of Santorini...

human powered aircraft project.