PULLMAN, WA – Bonnie Dunbar learned the lessons she needed to get to space as a farm kid in Outlook, Washington.
“When you grow up in a rural area you can get discouraged four out of five years” because of bad weather or poor crops, said Dunbar, a former NASA astronaut. “But you figure out how to go ahead. If the goal’s worth wanting, worth working for, then you get past that.”
Dunbar’s lifetime of grit will be recognized by Washington State University in May when she receives an honorary doctorate.
In nominating Dunbar for the honor, Regents Professor Douglas Call said, “Dr. Dunbar’s life story and contributions are compelling and inspirational. She circumvented significant obstacles in her career path, demonstrating courage and tenacity that seems breathtaking today.”
Dunbar said she prefers to focus on outcomes, “not the speed bumps along the way, because everyone has speed bumps.”
Closeup of Bonnie Dunbar.
Shuttle astronaut Bonnie Dunbar listens as she is introduced for induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame (AHOF) on April 20, 2013 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. (Photo courtesy of NASA)
About those outcomes: Dunbar was the first in her family to graduate from college, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ceramic engineering from the University of Washington. She earned a doctorate in mechanical/biomedical engineering from the University of Houston. Dunbar flew five missions on the space shuttle between 1985 and 1998, logging more than 50 days in space. She was part of a spacecraft design team at Rockwell International, a NASA administrator, and the former director of Seattle’s Museum of Flight. Currently she’s a professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University.
One valuable mentor was Professor James I. Mueller, chairman of the ceramics engineering department at UW.
“When I was just a freshman, I told him I wanted to be an astronaut one day and he didn’t laugh,” Dunbar recalled. “Every time the NASA engineers would come by, he would make sure I met them.” Mueller lived long enough to be there when Dunbar lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in the space shuttle Challenger.
She has some advice for today’s students. First, those who are interested in engineering or another STEM career need to take algebra as early as possible.
“What we’re finding in engineering is that even Advanced Placement students don’t have enough of that core algebra behind them,” she said, “and that means they’re at a disadvantage when it comes to problem-solving.”
And second, don’t give up. That applies to students and to just about any undertaking in life. “To get anywhere you have to be prepared and you have to work,” she said.
Dunbar recently bought back her parents’ farm in Outlook and hopes to spend part of the year there once she retires from academia.
“I wanted to be able to invest in agriculture,” she said, adding, “we need to have more young people back on the ranches and farms and they need to understand that if they’re interested in STEM, it’s a great opportunity. It’s technology.”
