Space Agency Looks For Science, Math Students

By ANN Correspondent Kevin O'Brien

Dr. J. Victor Lebacqz is a tall, patrician-looking man with a challenging name ("Lebask" is close; his father was from Belgium). He also has a very significant job. As Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, he is NASA's top guy for the "aeronautical" part of what many Americans think of as "the SPACE agency." Despite that public perception, NASA has a wide-ranging field of programs that Dr. Lebacqz administers, plus a new one that is just about to kick off: Scholarships for Service.

We had both just listened to Administrator Sean O'Keefe's forum at Oshkosh, and we'd seen examples of the above-mentioned  perception. One EAAer asked Administrator O'Keefe why the agency had dropped support for aeronautics. Another asked about a news report that the NASA Ames Research Center was "winding down." (O'Keefe scrunched up his face in puzzlement at that one --  it isn't happening). Despite SATS... despite the grants that have started and sustained a number of innovative businesses... despite NASA's involvement in WAAS research, etc... sometimes the word just doesn't get out.

After O'Keefe's presentation, NASA PAOs Elvia Thompson and Kathy Barnstorff got us a couple of minutes of Dr. Vic Lebacqz's valuable time. With time a constraint, you want to ask The Key Question. So... Dr. Lebacqz, "What's happening with NASA Aeronautics that our readers ought to know?" That's where we learned about Scholarships for Service.

"We're starting a new NASA program -- actually, I'd hoped to start it this fall, but we can't get through all the wickets in time, so it'll start in January -- called 'Scholarships for Service.' And we will pay full tuition, up to $20,000 a year, for students going into science, technology, engineering or math --"

"Fields directly useful to NASA, then?"

"Yes, fields that we can immediately use. We'll give them up to $20,000 a year for tuition, plus $10,000 a summer for interning at a NASA facility, in return for -- so this is, for a four-year degree -- in return for four years of service to NASA."

"So this is like the military's ROTC scholarships, except for NASA?"

"Exactly! And it's absolutely wonderful. For one thing, it's great for students, but it's great for NASA too, because this provides a pipeline for us of new talent, coming in here.

How big is the program?
 
"The first year is going to be around 200 students. I don't know whether we will be able to grow it beyond that for a while."

It's funding-dependent?

"It's funding-dependent. It'll be taken out of our general fund, and set aside specifically out of education budget. It'll be in our budget line for education."

Is Congress aware and supportive? Have you been coordinating with their staffs?

"I hope so! Our Associate Administrator for Education, Dr. Adena Loston, has spent a lot of time on the Hill talking to people, but I don't know."

This new program is only one of many NASA scholarship programs, including scholarships for NASA employees, NASA Explorers scholarships for outstanding Hispanic students, and even very narrow, specific scholarships like the Thacher Scholarship -- "awarded annually to an exceptional high school student displaying the best use of satellite remote sensing in understanding our changing planet." But this one directly produces students with degrees and experience useful to NASA, and with a commitment to the agency; everybody at NASA has a lot of hope for this.

FMI: www.aero-space.nasa.gov