Retired NASA astronaut and U.S. Air Force Col. Kevin Ford is bringing his expertise in space flight and perseverance to NC State’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) this fall.

Joining the department on November 1, Ford brings more than 7,000 flying hours and decades of experience in space exploration. In his new role as professor of the practice, Ford will teach and develop new specialty courses, provide valuable student mentorship and technical feedback, and expand research opportunities with faculty and external partners.

“I am extremely honored and excited to join the MAE team, and the entire NC State community, in this newly energized space age,” Ford said. “With the inspiring recent moon flight of Christina [Koch] and her Artemis II crew, the enthusiasm of the Wolfpack family is palpable. I see an incredibly well-established program, with awesome tools in place, and a faculty and student body that is absolutely destined to contribute to humanity’s new leaps.”

NASA selected Ford as a shuttle pilot astronaut in 2000, and he served as commander of Expedition 34 in 2012 — a mission that “studied how space affects bones and visual perception, observed how fluids respond to magnetic fields and measured how electromagnetic radiation affects climate,” according to NASA.

During his time at NASA, Ford worked on a number of missions to advance human space exploration. He acted as shuttle capsule communicator for eight flights and served as flight engineer for Expedition 33. Ford also held leadership roles, such as the director of operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, and the NASA Astronaut Office Soyuz representative for international crew training and certification. Most recently, he served as technical advisor on the NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee.

Ford has earned an array of awards and decorations, such as the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the Armed Forces Legion of Merit, Air Force Aerial Achievement Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

“My hope is to help bring the spirit of NASA and exploration into the hearts and minds of students and faculty, help bridge gaps between ideas and reality, and ensure that researchers university-wide can successfully imagine how their own disciplines might benefit from, or contribute to our journeys into the cosmos,” Ford said.

“Dr. Ford brings an amazing wealth of experience to the department,” said Katherine Saul, interim department head. “In addition to his spaceflight leadership, he also has experience as a commercial airline pilot and holds a Ph.D. in astronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. This is an impressive perspective that will benefit our students and faculty, and will bring the already outstanding aerospace program at NC State to new levels“

We’re proud to welcome Ford into the Wolfpack.