James A. Lovell Jr.

James A. Lovell, Jr., the commander of America's fifth moon launch, Apollo 13, presented the Schooler Lecture on

Lovell, who, along with his crew, averted disaster during the 1970 mission, has had his tale recounted in print and most recently in the blockbuster movie "Apollo 13." His experiences as a NASA astronaut have been invaluable as he pursued his post-NASA days in the business communications field.

A native of Cleveland, Lovell began his space career in 1962 as one of the group of nine astronauts selected by NASA. In 1965, he and Frank Borman were launched into space on the history-making Gemini 7 mission for the first rendezvous of two maneuverable spacecraft. Lovell is the first man to have gone to the moon twice and logged 715 hours in space.

Since his retirement from the space program, he has been senior executive with Bay-Houston Towing, a diversified company involved in harbor and coast towing, and in the communications industry with Centel Corporation, one of the nation's largest communications companies. He now heads his own entity, Lovell Communications.

Lovell is a graduate of the U.S. Navel Academy and is past chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness.