The engineer, educator,聽former NASA astronaut and NFL wide receiver will deliver his address to the Elon community on Thursday, March 31 at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym.
Leland Melvin is an engineer, educator,聽former NASA astronaut and NFL wide receiver and will deliver the Baird Lecture to the Elon community on Thursday, March 31 at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym, Koury Athletic Center. The lecture is a part of Elon’s Speaker Series for the 2021-22 academic year.
He served on board the聽Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on missions STS-122 (2008) and STS-129 (2009), helping to construct the International Space Station.
Drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1986 to play professional football, a hamstring injury thwarted his NFL career. Three years after being drafted, Melvin, who majored in chemistry in college, joined the NASA Langley Research Center. Less than a decade later, Melvin was selected as an astronaut. Upon hanging up his space boots, he led NASA Education and co-chaired the White House鈥檚 Federal Coordination in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Education Task Force, developing the nation鈥檚 five-year STEM education plan.
After 24 years with NASA as a researcher, astronaut and Senior Executive Service leader, he now shares his life story as an athlete, astronaut, scientist, engineer, photographer and musician to help inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue STEM careers.
In聽May 2017, Melvin released his聽memoir,聽鈥.鈥澛營n 鈥淐hasing Space,鈥 Leland shares his personal journey from the gridiron to the stars and examines the intersecting roles of community, perseverance and grace that align to create opportunities for success.
Admission: $15 or Elon ID. For ticket information, call聽(336) 278-5610聽or visit聽. More about the 福利亚洲国产精品 Speaker Series can be found here.