Ronnie Lajoie is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Space Society (NSS).

Ronnie Lajoie joined NSS in 1991 and the Huntsville chapter (HAL5) in 1992. He helped make a success of their 1993 ISDC. He has served as HAL5 Secretary, Vice-President, and Treasurer. He served as Editor of HAL5’s newsletter (1995-2000) and manages HAL5’s Web site at: http://hiwaay.net/~hal5/. He is also part of HAL5’s rockoon Project HALO team. In 1995, Ronnie Lajoie received the HAL5 Professional of the Year Award. From 1995 to 1999, he served as the Chairman of the NSS Chapters’ Assembly. In 1997, he was elected to the NSS Board of Advisors. In 2000, he was elected to the USIS Board of Directors as well as the NSS Board of Directors. He is a graduate of Boston University and M.I.T. and works as a space systems engineer for the Boeing Company.

At the 1995 ISDC, Ron Lajoie accepted a two-year post as Chairman of the National Space Society Chapters’ Assembly, and was reelected for a second term at the 1997 ISDC. During his two terms, he conducted several chapter surveys and led a reshaping of the Chapters’ Assembly into an organization to help chapters help each other to survive and thrive. Ronnie also established and maintains the Chapters’ Assembly Web site at: http://hiwaay.net/~hal5/assembly/.

In November of 1997, Mr. Lajoie was elected to the NSS Board of Advisors. As an Advisor, he participated in two NSS Strategic Planning workshops plus an NSS Policy Summit, where he helped draft the NSS “Statement of Philosophy” document, and helped define the initial NSS “Roadmap to Space Settlement.” In August of 2000, Mr. Lajoie was elected to the NSS Board of Directors. As an At-Large Director, he continues to be actively involved in the further development and execution of the NSS Roadmap. From 2001 to 2003, Ronnie served a member of the NSS Public Affairs Committee and NSS Policy Committee -- in which he led the development of the ISS visitation policy and provided the initial draft for the recent "Next Steps for Human Space Exploration" policy. He also served an interim term on the Executive Committee as NSS Secretary.

While still an active member of the NSS Policy Committee (and now also of the Membership Committee), most of Ronnie Lajoie's focus as Director has been on the NSS Chapters Committee -- and the Chapter Resources Subcommittee in particular. He has worked to provide NSS chapters with the resources they need, including NSS signs and banners, as well as money for chapter projects. He maintains the Chapter Database, currently in Excel, and is hard at work on a Web-based online database for NSS activists and chapters, to be unveiled in 2004.

Most recently, in February of 2004, Mr. Lajoie joined a handful of NSS leaders with Web development skills to form a volunteer team to take over development, maintenance, and management of the NSS Web site. The team's mandate is to bring the NSS Web site into the 21st century, to enhance its look to attract new members, to provide current members with useful content, and to provide NSS leaders with the information they need to do their volunteer work.