Larry Bell, AIAA, ASCE
Director Emeritus, SICSA
Space Architecture Endowed Professor

Bell joined the UH faculty in 1978, founded the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA) at the University of Houston in 1987, and served as the director of SICSA for almost 30 years. He took SICSA to new heights by both defining and leading the field of space architecture. Bell also established the world’s only master’s degree in space architecture at UH. Professor Bell co-founded Space Industries International (SII) in 1982. The company grew to employ more than 8,000 people as a result of various mergers and acquisitions and became Veridian, a diversified advanced technology company that serves aerospace, defense and automotive industries. Veridian was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (VNX), and was purchased by General Dynamics in 2003 for $1.5 billion. He is an Fellow Emeritus of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow of the prestigious Explorers Club. He has received numerous awards, including the Space Pioneer Award from Kyushu Sanyo University in Japan and the two highest honors awarded by the Federation of Astronautics and Cosmonautics of the former Soviet Union for his contributions to international space development.