Col. Thomas Akers, Math’73, MS Math’75, has logged more than 800 hours of space flight and 29 hours of space-walking experience. He was selected for NASA’s astronaut program after joining the Air Force and was a mission specialist on four space flights – including on the Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis. Following his career in the Air Force, Akers returned to his alma mater and taught math at S&T for 11 years before retiring in 2010.
Akers earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, both in mathematics, from S&T in 1973 and 1975, respectively.
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