Join the Illinois Institute of Technology community for the 2019 Darsh T. Wasan Lecture, “Building and Operating the International Space Station.” Ellen Ochoa, former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the first Hispanic woman astronaut, will deliver this year’s lecture. Ochoa was the director of the Johnson Space Center from 2013 until her retirement in May 2018. She became the first Hispanic woman to go into space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1993. She has flown in space four times, logging nearly 1,000 hours. She currently serves on several boards, including as vice chair of the National Science Board; as a director/trustee for Service Corporation International, Mutual of America, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; and as chair of the Nomination Evaluation Committee for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Friday, September 13 at 3 p.m. in the Hermann Hall Ballroom with a reception to follow. For more information or to register, please email rsvpevents@iit.edu, call 312.567.5030, or visit alumni.iit.edu/wasan. RSVP by Wednesday, September 4. Complimentary parking will be provided [see map].