{"id":29,"date":"2003-04-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-04-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/?p=29"},"modified":"2003-04-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2003-04-15T07:00:00","slug":"native-american-astronaut-to-be-honored-by-cu-colorado-springs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/?p=29","title":{"rendered":"NATIVE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT TO BE HONORED BY CU-COLORADO SPRINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

April <\/p>\n

15, 2003<\/p>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n

Contact: Margo Baker, 719-262-3832 <\/p>\n

George Carnes, 719-262-3648<\/font><\/p>\n

NATIVE AMERICAN <\/p>\n

ASTRONAUT TO BE HONORED BY CU-COLORADO SPRINGS<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

COLORADO <\/p>\n

SPRINGS, COLO – The nation’s first Native American astronaut <\/p>\n

and a 1983 CU-Colorado Springs graduate will receive an honorary doctorate <\/p>\n

degree in special ceremonies April 22.<\/font><\/p>\n

In November, John <\/p>\n

B. Herrington made history aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, capping <\/p>\n

an illustrious more than 20-year career as a U.S. Navy aviator. Endeavour’s <\/p>\n

seven-member crew traveled to Space Station Alpha with a mission of <\/p>\n

transporting a new three-member crew and returning three current space <\/p>\n

station occupants, including two Russians, to Earth. Herrington performed <\/p>\n

three space walks and installed a 29,000-pound truss to support various <\/p>\n

solar arrays.<\/font><\/p>\n

“It is an <\/p>\n

honor to recognize the achievements of one of our nation’s heroes,” <\/p>\n

Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “As a graduate of our campus, <\/p>\n

John Herrington is an inspiration to past, present and future students <\/p>\n

as well as to faculty, staff and friends of the university. Through <\/p>\n

his actions, he demonstrates the opportunities that exist for our students.”<\/font><\/p>\n

Herrington earned <\/p>\n

a bachelor’s degree from CU-Colorado Springs in applied mathematics <\/p>\n

and attended the Navy’s Aviation Officer Candidate School, graduating <\/p>\n

in 1984. In 1985, he was named a Navy aviator – a “Top Gun.” <\/p>\n

He was a patrol plane commander, mission commander, patrol plane instructor <\/p>\n

and a fleet replacement squadron instructor pilot before earning a master’s <\/p>\n

degree in aeronautical engineering from the Navy Postgraduate School. <\/p>\n

In 1996, he was selected by NASA. Six years later, he traveled to space <\/p>\n

and became the first Native American to do so.<\/font><\/p>\n

On board the shuttle, <\/p>\n

Herrington brought a CU-Colorado Springs pennant and carried with him <\/p>\n

two symbols of his heritage, a Chickasaw Nation flag and eagle feathers <\/p>\n

given to him by several other tribal nations. Herrington, born in Wetumka, <\/p>\n

Okla., is a member of the Chickasaw Nation. <\/font><\/p>\n

The Colorado Board <\/p>\n

of Regents approved granting Herrington the honorary doctorate at the <\/p>\n

March meeting. Several members of the Regents, campus officials and <\/p>\n

members of the Native American community are expected to attend the <\/p>\n

ceremonies that will feature an honoring song by a traditional drum <\/p>\n

as well as comments by Shockley-Zalabak and Herrington.<\/font><\/p>\n

Herrington will <\/p>\n

receive his degree at an invitation-only dinner in his honor at the <\/p>\n

Lodge. Herrington is unable to attend the university’s May 23 <\/p>\n

commencement ceremony.<\/font><\/p>\n

CU-Colorado Springs, <\/p>\n

located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the <\/p>\n

fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing <\/p>\n

universities in the nation. The university offers 25 bachelor’s degrees, <\/p>\n

17 master’s and two doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls more than 7,400 <\/p>\n

students annually.<\/font><\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

\n

style=”mso-spacerun: yes”>    <\/span>1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway <\/p>\n

<\/b>\n

style=”mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Marlett; mso-ascii-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-hansi-font-family: Times New Roman”>-<\/b>\n

style=”mso-bidi-font-weight:normal”> P.O. Box 7150 <\/b>\n

style=”mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Marlett; mso-ascii-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-hansi-font-family: Times New Roman”>-<\/b>\n

style=”mso-bidi-font-weight:normal”> Colorado Springs CO <\/b>\n

style=”mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Marlett; mso-ascii-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-hansi-font-family: Times New Roman”>-<\/b>\n

style=”mso-bidi-font-weight:normal”>  <\/p>\n

<\/span>80933-7150<\/b><\/small><\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April 15, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Margo Baker, 719-262-3832 George Carnes, 719-262-3648 NATIVE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT TO BE HONORED BY CU-COLORADO SPRINGS COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO – The nation’s first Native American astronaut and a 1983 (Full Press Release)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pressreleases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}