The character arc of Gwynne Shotwell
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 23 November 1963. Between then and now sit the Apollo 11 broadcast watched at five in 1969, Libertyville High School in 1982, The Aerospace Corporation in 1988, Microcosm in 1998, SpaceX joined in September 2002, the California Space Authority board in 2004, the company presidency in December 2008, a TEDx talk in June 2013, the first private crewed launch to orbit on 30 May 2020 and election to the National Academy of Engineering in 2020. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Gwynne Shotwell?
She found it boring.
In 1969, when she was five, she watched a television broadcast of the Apollo 11 mission with her family, and remembers finding it boring. She has said she was not interested in space at the time. She graduated from Libertyville High School in 1982, and in 1988 began work at the El Segundo research centre of The Aerospace Corporation, doing technical work on military space research and development contracts.
She left in 1998 to become director of the space systems division at Microcosm, a small rocket company in El Segundo, and left Microcosm in 2002 for SpaceX, which Elon Musk had founded that year. She took the job two weeks after it was offered, in September 2002.
In December 2008 she was promoted to company president, following her role in the successful negotiation of the first Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. She is president and chief operating officer, responsible for day to day operations and company growth, and on 30 May 2020 SpaceX became the first private company to launch two astronauts to Earth orbit. She was elected to the California Space Authority board in 2004, gave a TEDx talk on science and engineering education in June 2013 and a talk titled Launching Our Future at the Grace Hopper Celebration on 28 September 2018, entered the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 2012, was named Satellite Executive of the Year in 2017 and 2020, and was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2020.
The moments
Gwynne Shotwell's timeline.
The 1960s
Apollo 11, aged five
Milestone. Her own account: she found it boring and was not interested.
The 1980s
Libertyville High School
Milestone. An Illinois high school, in 1982.
The Aerospace Corporation
Milestone, and it changed everything. Technical work, on contracts nobody outside reads about.
The 1990s
A small rocket company
Milestone, and it changed her direction. From a research centre to a small company down the road.
The 2000s
Join a company with no rocket
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: take it in two weeks, taken, or stay at Microcosm. She was promoted to company president in December 2008, and SpaceX launched two astronauts to orbit on 30 May 2020.
She joined SpaceX
Milestone, and it changed everything. A company founded that year, with nothing built yet.
The Space Authority board
Milestone. A seat on the board of the state's space body.
The NASA contract
Milestone, and it changed everything. She negotiated the contract, and then she was president.
The 2010s
A talk on teaching
Milestone. A talk about getting people into the subjects she took.
Launching Our Future
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A talk about why the room needs to look different.
The 2020s
The first private crew
Milestone, and it changed everything. The first private company ever to put people in orbit.
The Academy of Engineering
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Elected by other engineers, which is the one that counts.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is a useful thing to know: the person who runs the rockets was bored by the moon landing, and the interest arrived decades later and on its own terms.
Your turn
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Hers started with a five year old who was not interested. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Gwynne Shotwell: frequently asked questions
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What is Gwynne Shotwell's character arc?
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Where does this timeline of Gwynne Shotwell's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Gwynne Shotwell, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract award and the crewed launch of 30 May 2020.
- National Academy of Engineering membership, 2020.