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Colonel
Rex R. Kiziah
Permanent Professor 2005–
B.S., United States Air Force Academy
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
Rex Kiziah, the Academy’s 82nd Permanent Professor, was born in 1959 in Granite Falls, North Carolina. He was a 1981 Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he was named the Outstanding Cadet in Physics. He immediately entered the University of Texas at Austin, earning a Physics PhD in 1984. From 1984 to 1988 Rex conducted neutral particle beam research for the Strategic Defense Initiative at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, NM. He returned to the Academy’s Department of Physics, 1988–1993, teaching introductory courses and developing advanced classes in Computational Physics and Chaotic Dynamics, while directing the Academy’s Nuclear Radiation Laboratory. He was named the department’s Outstanding Military Educator in 1991. Following a year at Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL, 1993–1994, Rex was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs), the Pentagon, Washington, DC, as Special Assistant for Research and Technology, 1994–1996, and Deputy Program Manager, Counterproliferation, 1996–1997. From 1997 to 1999 he served at the National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, VA, working national space requirements and technology issues, followed by a year as a student at Air War College, Maxwell AFB, AL. Then in 2000–2002 he received an assignment to the Air Staff Directorate of Global Power Programs, where he was Chief, Theater Air Defense Division, then Chief, Combat Support and Joint Counterair Division. Among his duties were directing, planning, and budgeting for Air Force air and missile defense programs, including Airborne Laser development. From 2002 to 2004 he was assigned to the Space and Missile Systems Center, AF Space Command, Los Angeles AFB, CA, where he directed the planning, development, testing, deployment, and sustainment of Presidential-priority space superiority systems. From 2004 to 2006 Rex was the Commander of the Phillips Research Site and Material Wing Director for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland AFB, NM. He was the senior leader responsible for research and development of advanced technologies in national security space and directed energy. Rex returned again to the Academy in 2006 as Permanent Professor and Head, Department of Physics. In 2011–2013 he took a sabbatical assignment as Deputy Chief Scientist, HQ AF Space Command, Peterson AFB, CO, where he crafted and executed the Command’s first-ever Visionary Workshop, producing dozens of key recommendations and strategic insights for 20-year planning efforts. His Academy faculty team, in addition to teaching physics principals to all cadets, engages cadet Physics and Meteorology majors with relevant research through the Laser and Optics Research Center, Space Physics and Atmospheric Research Center, Center for Physics Education Research, Center for Space Situational Awareness Research, and the Academy’s Observatory.