Richard William Henry Bohlen was born on December 27, 1935 in New York City to Richard and Mathilda Katherine (Buck) Bohlen.
Mr. Bohlen earned his B.S. degree in 1957 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He did postgraduate studies at Dermstadt Technology Institute, in Germany from 1960 to 1961, earned an M.S. from the Polytechnic Institute of New York in 1962, and an MBA from California State University, Fullerton in 1968.
Mr. Bohlen worked as a project engineer for aircraft and missile design at Grumman Aerospace Corporation from 1957-1962. He then began a multi-decade career with Rockwell International, Pittsburgh in 1962. At Rockwell he served from 1962 to 1972 as the Apollo engineering manager, and later as the space shuttle program manager. He served as the director of the engineering industrial products group from 1980-1986, president of the Measurement and Flow Control division from 1986 to 1987, and in 1988 became the Senior Vice President of Operations.
Mr. Bohlen was honored several times by Marquis Who’s Who: as a noteworthy manufacturing executive; Inductee, Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement (2018); Featured Listee, Who’s Who In Finance and Industry, (1985-1990, 1992-1993); Featured Listee, Who’s Who in America, (1989-1993); Featured Listee, Who’s Who In the East, (1986-1987, 1989-1990); and Featured Listee, Who’s Who In the West, (1992-1993).
He also served on several boards and task forces. He was: a member of the Projected Expenditures Subcommittee, City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Finance Task Force, 1988; a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; a member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Coast Gas Association, serving as Chairman from 1986 to 1987; a member of the Institute for Manufacturing and Automation Research; a trustee for the Manufacturers’ Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, Inc.; a member of the Board of Directors of II-VI Inc.; and a member of the American Management Association, the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association, the California Club, the Bel-Air Country Club, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Beta Gamma Sigma.
Mr. Bohlen married Gwendolyn Ann Beran in 1960 and had two children: Jeannette Luise Bohlen and Christine Anne Bohlen.
