Bonnie J. Dunbar, PhD NAE CorrFRSE

Professor Dunbar is an American engineer and retired NASA astronaut. She flew on five Space Shuttle missions between 1985 and 1998, including two dockings with the Mir space station. Since leaving NASA, she has worked in museums and STEM leadership, and is currently with Texas A&M University, Department of Aerospace Engineering. Professor Dunbar is the John & Bea Slattery Chair. Director, Aerospace Human Systems Lab. Director, Aerospace Human Research Centrifuge Facility.

Dr. Dunbar was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2002, for personal leadership and significant contributions to solutions to engineering design problems in human space flight and to on-orbit operations.

Dunbar, who is a member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, came to Texas A&M from the University of Houston where she was an M.D. Anderson Professor of Mechanical Engineering. There she provided leadership in the development of a new integrated university science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) center and was director of the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston. She also directed the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture’s Space Architecture and Aerospace graduate programs. She has devoted her life to furthering engineering, engineering education and the pursuit of human space exploration.

Dunbar worked for the Rockwell International Space Division Company, building Space Shuttle Columbia and worked for 27 years at NASA, first as a flight controller; then as a mission specialist astronaut, where she flew five space shuttle flights, logging more than 50 days in space; and then served for seven years as a member of the Senior Executive Service. Her executive service included assistant NASA Johnson Space Center director for university research; deputy director for Flight Crew Operations; associate director for International Space Station Mission Operations development, and as NASA headquarters deputy associate administrator for the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications.

After retiring from NASA, Dunbar became president and CEO of The Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, where she established a new Space Gallery and expanded its K-12 STEM educational offerings. She has also consulted in aerospace and STEM education as the president of Dunbar International LLC, and is an internationally known public speaker.

Dunbar holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ceramic engineering from the University of Washington and a Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical/biomedical engineering from the University of Houston.

She is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Royal Aeronautical Society. She has been awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal five times, the NASA Exceptional Leadership Medal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Dunbar was inducted into the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and in 2002 was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. In 2012 she was elected into the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) International Executive Committee, and in 2013 she was selected into the Astronaut Hall of Fame. She is currently president of the ASE.