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Astronaut Eileen Collins to Address UC Grads at Commencement

First Woman to Pilot Space Shuttle A True "Pioneer"

Written By Ami Olson, PR Intern

Contact - cleogrande@utica.edu

Utica, NY (04/02/2007) - Astronaut and retired Air Force Col. Eileen Collins will speak at Utica College’s 2007 commencement ceremony May 13.

The first woman to pilot a space shuttle, Collins commanded the space flight of STS-93 Columbia in 1999. She piloted a total of four space flights, and commanded two of them, before retiring from NASA in 2006. Collins spent more than 20 years in the Air Force before she was selected for the astronaut program. In the military, she was an aircraft commander, instructor pilot, and assistant professor. She retired from the Air Force in 2005.

Collins earned an associate’s degree from Corning Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, a master’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree from Webster University. Collins is the recipient of several awards, including numerous NASA Space Flight medals and the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross.

In addition to her career as an astronaut and decorated pilot, Collins is a wife and mother, who enjoys playing golf, camping, photography and astrology.

The commencement ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Collins’ speech will conclude the Utica College yearlong campus theme “Science and Society,” an examination of the many roles of modern science and technology in today’s world.


About Utica College – Founded in 1946, Utica College is a comprehensive private institution that grants the Syracuse University baccalaureate degree and the Utica College master’s and doctoral degrees. The College, located in central New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls nearly 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 32 undergraduate majors, 24 minors, 13 master’s and two doctoral degree programs.

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