Albert E. Kuhn, an IBM vice president who helped put men on the moon, was named 2002
Alumnus of the Year by Southeastern Louisiana University.
Kuhn, a 1965 Southeastern graduate and Ponchatoula native, headed IBM’s Global Delivery
Project, a $4 billion, five-year information technology out-tasking program between
the IBM and American Express. He managed an organization of more than 2,000 IBM personnel
located in 26 countries prior to his retirement in 2008.
Kuhn’s career began in the aerospace industry, where, as an employee of Boeing, Computer
Sciences Corporation, McDonnal Douglas, and IBM, he was involved in the Apollo, space
shuttle and Space Station Freedom programs, and worked on missile defense.
In the early 1990s, he switched his career focus at IBM to information technology,
serving as systems manager for the company’s O/S 2 operation system development and
establishing a worldwide organization for providing user end support for software
products. His work took him to Europe and China, where he established a service organization
to support IBM’s software marketing and sales.
He joined IBM’s Global Services Division in 1996 and became director of Distributed
Services two years later. Kuhn was named vice president and Global Delivery Project
executive for the American Express Account.
Kuhn said his interest in mathematics dates back to high school when he found that
mathematics problem-solving gave him the opportunity for creative thinking. He said
his professors’ contacts and encouragement helped him up the first rungs of the career
ladder. He credits mathematics faculty members such as Harold Moore and the late Marion
Rummel with helping to open doors to graduate studies in aerospace engineering at
the University of Alabama and employment with Boeing. He also remembers being fascinated
by the flamboyant hands-on teaching style of physics professor J.E. Martin.
“They were good professors who took an interest in people and their careers,” he said.
Kuhn was hired by Boeing Company in 1965 to work with in its Huntsville, Ala., operation,
which was supporting NASA’s Apollo Program. He was part of the technical team responsible
for flight performance predictions of the Apollo launch vehicle’s earth orbit mission.
During those early days of American space exploration, Kuhn said he and his colleagues
often worked around the clock.
“We were committed to putting a man on the moon without the hardware or software to
get us there,” Kuhn said. “It was challenging. We were caught up in solving the problems.”
In 1973, Kuhn left Boeing for Computer Sciences Corporation where he worked as a systems
analyst supporting antiballistic missile research for the U.S. Army Missile Command.
He led the team that performed ascent studies of the Sprint interceptor vehicle.
He said the work was interesting, but that he ultimately found the task of determining
how effective the weapon would be in knocking down Russian missiles to be “demoralizing.”
In 1975 he moved to McDonnal Douglas as manager of the Ascent Mission Design team
of NASA’s shuttle program.
Kuhn joined IBM’s Federal Systems Division in 1976. As manager of IBM’s Ascent and
Abort System Performance team, he was responsible for verifying NASA’s Space Shuttle
avionics leading to the first manned flight. Following the first flight, he managed
IBM’s new business organization, working with the U.S. Air Force to design a data
center for flight control of classified Shuttle operations. In 1989, he was named
program manager for IBM’s Space Station Freedom program.
In 1991, Kuhn joined IMB’s Personal Systems Products Division as systems manager for
development of the O/S 2 operation system. “I had been solving the same problems through
three or four programs,” Kuhn said. “It was time for a career change.”
He established a worldwide organization for providing user end support for software
products, expanding PSP customer support throughout Europe and establishing a service
organization in China.
Kuhn moved to IBM Global Services Division in 1996 and was named director of Distributed
Services two years later. In his job of providing information technology, he managed
an organization of 3,500 personnel located in 26 countries.
“Southeastern has a very good computer science program,” Kuhn said. “By spending time
working in a business environment, students will be get a clearer understanding of
the options open to them. They’ll get a glimpse of what’s out there.” Kuhn helped
orchestrate Southeastern student internships with IBM.
As a Southeastern student, Kuhn was active in Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity, serving
as president in his senior year. He is married to Kathryn Durr Kuhn, a 1964 Southeastern
graduate and physical education major, who was a member of and choreographer for the
Lionettes. A former high school teacher, Mrs. Kuhn is an internationally rated women’s
gymnastics judge, judging at the collegiate, pre-Olympic and international levels.
The Kuhns have one son, Alan, a veterinarian practicing in Florida.
