Dr. Robert M. Manning is a senior engineer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in Cleveland, Ohio. His specialty is stochastic electromagnetic wave propagation through random media. He is responsible for the development of the statistical rain attenuation prediction model that was used in the design and development of NASA’s Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS).

Dr. Manning earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in physics from Case Western Reserve University. He has conducted theoretical work concerning image propagation through the atmosphere and ocean and is currently engaged in the assessment of ultra-high-bandwidth propagation through planetary atmospheres. Dr. Manning is the author of the graduate reference book, Stochastic Electromagnetic Image Propagation and Adaptive Compensation (McGraw-Hill, 1993), as well as over 30 other publications. He is listed in Who's Who in Optical Science and Engineering, Who's Who of Professionals, and American Men and Women of Science.