The Daily Orange

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Nearly 30 years have passed since Eileen Collins graduated from Syracuse University. But not even several decades of service in the U.S. Air Force and almost 900 hours logged in space could distance the decorated pilot and NASA astronaut from her alma mater.

She returns to campus today to present a scholarship to SU senior Rebecca Rought, an aerospace engineering major in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS). Collins will also share her thoughts on her unique experiences.

Students, faculty and community members are invited to attend the ceremony at 9:30 a.m. in the Kilian Room, room 500, in the Hall of Languages. Collins will speak following the award presentation.

Many professors and administrators said they are hoping her visit will inspire and motivate students and members of the community.

Thong Dang, ECS director of the aerospace engineering program, said her visit will be a rare opportunity for students to see and hear from an accomplished Syracuse alumna.

"Very few of us have had the change to experience what (astronauts) experience," he said. "They're very interesting people. They've seen what very, very few of us have seen. Their perspectives are valuable."

Collins, a 1978 graduate, became a member of the U.S. Air Force in 1979. In 1990, she was selected by NASA to pilot several space shuttle missions, including the first flight of the joint Russian-American Space Program.

Collins broke gender boundaries for NASA in 1999, serving as the shuttle's first female commander. SU awarded her an honorary degree 2001. Collins retired from NASA five years later.

The purpose of her visit today is to present a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation to ECS senior Rought.

Rought was one of 19 undergraduate and graduate students from across the county to be selected to receive the Astronaut Scholarship, said Elaine Granath, a public relations representative for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

An SU student has been among those selected for the award since 1994. Recipients must be involved in both the school and community, participate in lab or field research and be well rounded overall, Granath said.

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