UCSB History lecturer Peter Westwick wins Gardner-Lasser book award.

Dr. Peter Westwick, a lecturer in UCSB’s Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, has been awarded the 2008 Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Dr. Westwick received the Gardner-Lasser Award for his book Into the Black: JPL and the American Space Program, 1976-2004 (Yale University Press, 2007). The Gardner-Lasser History Literature Award is presented for the best original contribution to the field of aeronautical or astronautical historical non-fiction literature published in the last five years dealing with the science, technology, and/or impact of aeronautics and astronautics on society.

Into the Black previously received the 2006 Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award, from the American Astronautical Society.

Westwick is also the co-creator of the History Department’s new “history of surfing” class. When not researching or teaching, he can be found at one of the local breaks.

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