Leland Melvin Former NASA Astronaut and NFL Wide Receiver

Melvin has a B.S. degree in chemistry and a M.S. degree in materials science engineering. He worked at NASA Langley Research Center in nondestructive testing, creating optical fiber sensors for measuring damage in aerospace vehicles, resulting in being published in numerous scientific journals. After hanging up his space boots, he was appointed head of NASA Education, and served as the co-chair of the White House’s Federal Coordination in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM.) Education Task Force, developing the nation’s five-year STEM education plan. Melvin was the United States representative and chair of the International Space Education Board (ISEB), a global collaboration on learning about space. He uses his life story as an athlete, astronaut, scientist, engineer, photographer, and musician to help inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) careers. For more information about Melvin, please visit his website.