Texas A&M University aerospace engineering professor Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar was elected president of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) International at the 30th annual ASE Congress in Toulouse, France, on Oct. 20. She is the first woman to be elected ASE president.
Dunbar, a TEES Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and director of the Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation (IEEI), flew five times on the Space Shuttle for 50 days in space, and previously was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
She also established the Aerospace Human Systems Laboratory at Texas A&M, which is dedicated to leading research on systems for ensuring the survival of humans in space or extreme environments, including new technologies for spacesuits and habitats. Specific topics include human systems modeling, multifunctional materials and partial gravity fluid physics.