No, I did not receive this award, but I had the next best experience – one of my former students did. As a teacher, the primary driving force behind everything I do is the knowledge that, in some small way, I am changing people’s lives. It is rare, however, to know just how much, or to be able to share in that recognition, especially after decades have passed.
Trent Kingery, who had been one of my students at North Carolina State University, was this year’s recipient of the Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence, and he invited me to attend the Innovators Gala to be there when he received the award. I was truly humbled to be invited by him and honored to be able to participate in the event.
How did we all get here? I had Trent in one of my freshman statics classes. I knew was he was an active duty marine, and he made an impression on me as a dedicated aerospace engineering student. His senior year, he applied for the College of Engineering Scholarship. I was on the selection board, but when I saw his application, I thought he would be a perfect candidate for a different scholarship, the Astronaut Scholarship. The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation was originally established more than 35 years ago by six of the surviving Mercury 7 Astronauts. Eventually, astronauts from other programs like Apollo and a host of companies, universities, and patrons began to join in the Foundation. Trent only had a few days to write an essay and resume, but he got it done, and we got letters of recommendations together for him, and he received the Astronaut Scholarship.
After graduation Trent was commissioned an officer in the US Marine Corps and became a distinguished F-18 pilot. He retired after 24 years of service. He is now the Chief Aviation Safety Officer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Though not an astronaut himself, Trent has helped train many astronauts flying specially modified T-38 aircraft.
Five years ago, the sons of Neil Armstrong, Rick and Mark, and a close family friend, Jim Hays, established the Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence. The recipient is chosen from all those who had received the Astronaut Scholarship, and the Award is presented at the annual Innovators Gala, which also recognizes the current year’s scholarship recipients, sixty eight in all.
And what an event it was! I had the opportunity attend the presentations of this year’s impressive group of scholarship recipients and mingle with the equally impressive folks associated with the scholarships, including current and former astronauts and many people involved in the space program. The keynote speaker, Harrison Schmitt, was the last man on the moon as the lunar landing pilot of Apollo 17. Seated at our table at the Gala were Trent’s mother and father-in-law and several individuals currently involved in the impending Artemis I launch. That was the subject of much of the talk. At our table was also last year’s winner of the Award of Excellence, astronaut Christina Koch, who was also from NC State University. Cristina has more hours in space than any other woman. It was humbling just to be at the Gala, but it was especially humbling sitting at this particular table.
Trent delivered a winner of speech. He talked about all the people in his life that had made a difference, like his mom, and several individuals in the military, and then he pointed me out to this immense crowd and I stood up. Never will I ever feel the same again. To say I was proud is an understatement. Proud of Trent and all that he has accomplished, and proud that I had played a small part in setting him on the trajectory to be honored in front of so many of his heroes of the space program. It was a moment of time that I will always remember, always cherish. My encouragement and support over 25 years ago were just now becoming clear to me. At the time, I didn’t feel I had done anything that any good teacher wouldn’t do, but Trent thinks it made a difference, and that made this truly a night to remember. – Dr. Tom
