Roderick O. Middleton
From The Space Library
Rear Admiral Roderick O. Middleton, USN, was Apollo Program Manager, Kennedy Space Center, a post he began in August, 1967. Born in Pomona, Fla., in 1919, he attended Florida Southern College in Lakeland and was graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1937. He served in the South Pacific during World War II and was awarded a master of science degree from Harvard University in 1946. He joined the Polaris development program as head of the Missile Branch in the Navy’s Special Project Office in Washington, D.C., and was awarded the Legion of Merit for his role in the Polaris project in 1961. He held a number of command posts, including that as Commanding Officer of the USS Observation Island, Polaris missile test ship, before being assigned to NASA in October 1965.
