Ken Reightler, a U.S. Naval Academy professor and former NASA astronaut, will be the keynote speaker at the winter commencement ceremony.
As an astronaut, Reightler piloted two successful Space Shuttle missions and spent more than 327 hours in space. Student representatives on the commencement speaker committee said they selected Reightler not only for these accomplishments, but because they consider him a role model with an inspirational message for students.
“He is a leader,” said senior communication and mathematics major Stephanie Barcomb, one of the students on the committee. “He has done almost everything from being a naval aviator and U.S. naval test pilot to being the vice president of several different organizations. We chose him based on his accomplishments and the fact that we believe he will give a great speech, which is what’s most important.”
In 1991 Reightler piloted the flight of the STS-48 Space Shuttle mission, and three years later he piloted the first joint Space Shuttle Mission between the U.S. and Russia, STS-60. After retiring from NASA at the rank of captain in 1995, Reightler joined Lockheed Martin Corp. and later served as vice president of engineering services at the Spacecraft Systems Division of ATK, a supplier of aerospace and defense products.
Reightler then left ATK to return to the U.S. Naval Academy, from which he earned his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering in 1973 in order to become a professor. Earlier this year, he was recognized as the academy’s Robert A. Heinlein Distinguished Professor of Aerospace Engineering.
“He’s exactly what you would want from a commencement speaker,” said Jarred Young, an aerospace engineering major who heard Reightler speak at a banquet for the university’s student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in April. “Ken is someone who started from nowhere and worked his way to his dream. He knew what he wanted to do, worked hard, never gave up from beginning to end and fulfilled his dreams. He’s very inspirational and enlightening.”
However, some students who had not heard of Reightler said they would have preferred to have a more well-known commencement speaker.
“I think in general I would be more excited about the speaker if I knew who they were,” Shayna Kleinberg, a senior communication major, said.
Nonetheless, other students said they looked forward to seeing what Reightler has to offer.
“I can see why some people might want a celebrity, but I think there are so many people with unknown faces who make incredible contributions to society,” Mark Inda, a senior neurobiology and physiology major, said. “People who do incredible things aren’t necessarily all going to be famous.”
Daniel Mattern, a graduate student in aerospace engineering who also heard Reightler speak at the AIAA banquet, said the former astronaut’s experiences and accomplishments will inspire this semester’s graduating seniors.
“He is one of the very select group of people who had the rare opportunity to see things most of us will never see,” Mattern said. “Astronauts are incredible people. Not only are they very intelligent, they also have to be in top physical form to be out there in space. Astronauts are the all-around epitome of human capability.”
The campus-wide commencement ceremony is scheduled to be held Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. at Comcast Center. Individual college graduation ceremonies will be held throughout the day on Dec. 20.
