Elmira College Will Award Honorary Doctor of Science Degree to Col. Eileen Collins, First Woman Space Shuttle Commander

On Sunday, June 4, at the 148th Commencement Exercises of Elmira College, the College will award its highest honor, the Honorary Doctor of Science Degree, to Space Shuttle Commander, Air Force Colonel Eileen Collins, who also will deliver the Commencement Address.

Collins made history in July of 1999 she became the first woman Space Shuttle Commander, leading a successful mission on the Shuttle Columbia, which was highlighted by the deployment of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. She bravely led the Return to Flight mission in July and August of 2005, during which the Shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station. The crew tested and evaluated new procedures for flight safety, as well as Shuttle inspection and repair techniques.

Col. Collins served as pilot on two other Shuttle missions, STS-63 Discovery (February 3-11, 1995) and STS-84 Atlantis (May 15-24, 1997). Collins has logged more than 872 hours in space.

She has earned the Defense Superior Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for service in Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury, October 1983), French Legion of Honor, and the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal.

Col. Collins graduated in 1979 from Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance AFB, Oklahoma, where she was a T-38 instructor pilot. From 1983 to 1985, she was a C-141 aircraft commander and instructor pilot at Travis AFB, California. At the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1986 to 1989, she was an assistant professor in mathematics and a T-41 instructor pilot. She was selected for the astronaut program while attending the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. She has logged more than 6,751 hours in thirty different types of aircraft. Collins retired from the Air Force in January 2005.

She is a member of the Air Force Association, the Order of Daedalians, Women Military Aviators, the U.S. Space Foundation, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Ninety-Nines.

Collins, who was born in Elmira, graduated from Elmira Free Academy in 1974. She earned an Associate in mathematics and science from Corning Community College in 1976; a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and economics from Syracuse University in 1978; a Master of Science degree in operations research from Stanford University in 1986; and a Master of Arts degree in space systems management from Webster University in 1989.

Collins is married and enjoys running, golf, hiking, camping, reading, photography, and, quite naturally, astronomy.

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