Of the 107 billion people that have ever been born, 536 people have been to space. Of those, 339 were NASA Astronauts, and one was at the University to award two scholarships on March 17.
Col. Frederick Gregory, a retired NASA astronaut who flew on three space shuttle missions before serving as NASA’s deputy administrator in the early 2000s, visited the University on behalf of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Gregory presented physics and biochemistry senior Amy LeBleu and physics senior Harvey Shows with the 2016 ASF scholarship, worth $10,000.
40 ASF scholarships are given out every year at 35 top-flight universities across the country. Recipients must be nominated by faculty before being approved by the ASF, and the scholarship is only available to upperclassmen.
The scholarship presentation event was held in the Faculty Club on the morning of March 17. The introduction of Gregory focused much on his past achievements, including his military service in Vietnam as a medical evacuation helicopter pilot and his days as a Space Shuttle commander aboard Atlantis and Discovery. When Gregory took the stage to present the awards, however, he made a point to change the conversation.
“What I want to do is talk about the motivation,” Gregory said as he introduced the scholars. “Not the things that they are doing here, but the motivation of why they are doing what they are doing and what their future looks like.”
The first recipient, LeBleu is an astronomy and biochemistry double major with a minor in psychology. Her motivation to pursue science came at a young age, and she eventually went to space camp four times in a row. She has contributed in a number of astrophysics projects at the University, including working in the lab of Geoffrey Clayton. A self-proclaimed lover of anything NASA, LeBleu hopes to travel to Mars one day.
Shows grew up being educated by his parents. He eventually began studying at Southeastern Louisiana University, but his eyes were always set on LSU. Initially, Shows wasn’t sure what to study, but physics seemed to be what interested him. Physics stuck, and now Shows conducts nuclear physics research in the lab of Kristina Launey.
The spotlight on the speakers’ motivations to pursue science continued with Gregory when he gave his keynote speech. Gregory referenced his father as being a critical mentor of his, and his love of sports cars and airplanes as fueling his pursuit of aviation in the military.
The event culminated his ultimate message to the scholars: “Make a contribution and have fun.”
“You’re gonna make a contribution, you’re gonna do significant things,” Gregory said. “But you gotta have fun doing it.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

Courtesy of Mimi LaValle

Astronaut Scholarship court art