Richard Jurek is an American author,
numismatist
A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...
, and business executive. He is the author of the book ''The Ultimate Engineer: The Remarkable Life of NASA’s Visionary Leader
George M. Low'' and co-authored the book ''Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program''.
Space artifact collector
Jurek became a aerospace enthusiast and collector of space
memorabilia
A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...
in the 1970s. He first collected autographed space items among other collectables, eventually focusing mainly on astronaut flown personal mementos and artifacts. His collection includes a large selection of space flown numismatic items, including an assemblage of
$2 bills signed by astronauts that were carried while in orbit or during lunar landings during the golden age of space exploration. His unique collection of $2 bills carried by astronauts appear in the online Jefferson Space Museum. He has also exhibited pieces from his collection at the
Kansas Cosmosphere and the
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois.
Board of trustees
The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...
Museum His collection has also been covered on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and WGN TV's "Backstory with Larry Potash" program.
Space historian
Jurek is the co-author of the 2014 book ''Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program'', which he cowrote with
David Meerman Scott. The book focuses on the use of marketing techniques and marketing agreements between
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
and private industry to promote the importance of the
Apollo missions
The Apollo program was a United States human spaceflight program carried out from 1961 to 1972 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which landed the first astronauts on the Moon. The program used the Saturn IB and Saturn ...
to the US public. He has provided public lectures on the subject as well. The book contains around three hundred images of original ads and marketing materials, cut down from an initial collection of about three thousand. Jurek argues that what occurred during the marketing of the Apollo missions set the precedent of the modern interaction between the public and mass media. For his book he also appeared on the
Science Channel
Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, man ...
’s television series ''
NASA's Unexplained Files
This is a list of programs broadcast by Science Channel.
Science Channel broadcasts a number of science-related television series originally produced by or aired on Discovery Channel, such as ''Beyond Tomorrow'', among others. Discovery Communica ...
'', as well as the documentary ''The Two Dollar Bill''. He is also a contributor to Air & Space Smithsonian.
He also served as a consulting producer on the 2019 critically acclaimed PBS/American Experience documentary, Chasing the Moon.
In 2019 Jurek released the book ''The Ultimate Engineer: The Remarkable Life of NASA’s Visionary Leader
George M. Low''. ''Publishers Weekly'' said of the book that, "The result of Jurek’s extensive research and careful use of detail is a comprehensive portrait of a figure vastly greater in significance than in name recognition." The Library Journal’s review declared the book “scholarly, yet accessible and engaging,” and “is as much a history of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
as a biography of George Low, and as such is an important contribution to the history of the agency.”
Business career
Jurek is the Chief Marketing and Communication Officer of The Inland Group.
Previously, he was a vice president and head of corporate communications at The
Northern Trust Company in Chicag
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurek, Richard
Living people
American numismatists
American marketing businesspeople
Year of birth missing (living people)