Texas A&M Galveston will welcome former astronaut Colonel Michael E. Fossum to its staff at the beginning of March.
Fossum, A&M Class of 1980, served in the U.S. Air Force and worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration since 1993. He received the opportunity to travel to space in 1998. He will serve as vice president, a chief operating officer as well as an executive professor.
“I’m going in completely open. I commit to doing my best, to listen and to work hard,” Fossum said. “It will be a collaboration because I am a democratic type of leader. We will work together to make decisions. I want to get around the table. I want people to be free to express their ideas without rank, and find the best path forward.”
Fossum said some of his goals are increasing communication between the Galveston and College Station campuses, raising awareness of the work and opportunities available on the Galveston campus and building close ties with the maritime industries. He also wants to raise awareness in Austin and Washington, D.C. of the Corps training done on the Galveston campus as one of six maritime academies in the United States.
“To understand our fisheries, coastlines floodings, all of those things, it struck me that all of these things are making a big difference to the state of Texas and the country,” Fossum said. “I want to be part of an organization that is making a big difference.”
Fossum hopes to achieve his goals and give back to his old school by using his previous experiences from the military and NASA to offer a new perspective.
“The leadership and opportunities of growth in military and NASA are similar of what is needed,” Fossum said. “I want to bring those skills here with a different point of view and perhaps with some new perspective.”
With the experiences and perspective of serving his old school, Fossum expressed his excitement about the new opportunity.
“My life was changed by my time at A&M,” Fossum said. “I showed up as a student without much idea what college would be like. My eyes were opened up to huge opportunities. The world is tough and you have to build a resilience and an attitude of working hard, and I got that through my experience as TAMU. I’ve been blessed. I worked hard, but I am blessed to get to do things, like being able to serve the university that I love. To help young people and prepare for them to achieve their goal and dreams is huge.”