The Ohio State University has received a transformational gift of $20 million to support one of the biggest undertakings imaginable: the exploration of outer space. The gift will provide funding to create the Space Exploration Research Fund for student fellowships to support promising research that will lead to the furtherance of space exploration, and for a faculty chair in engineering, named in honor of former astronaut and U. S. Senator John Glenn.
The anonymous gift is the second-largest single gift to the university in its 137-year history. In addition to unprecedented studies of our universe, it will support the mentoring of young minds, provide funding for major collaborations on promising research projects, and create the Glenn Faculty Chair in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. Faculty chairs provide salary and/or research support for a designated faculty member and help to recruit and retain the most brilliant minds in a given field.
“We are the leader-nation of the entire world because we’ve always had a curious, questioning nature that pushed back the frontiers of the unknown and put new knowledge to use,” said Senator Glenn. “I’m honored to lend my name to this important academic opportunity, because I realize that we are only at the beginning of our space quest, and that there is so much more to explore and to learn. I think it’s time for the next great leap forward and for us to think big.”
The John Glenn Chair will support a faculty member in the College of Engineering working on propulsion technologies for orbital payload delivery, interplanetary transport, and power systems for space travel or for moon or planetary bases.
“The creation of the John Glenn Chair in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, honoring an American space pioneer, distinguished Ohio statesman and active member of the Ohio State academic community, will create a big boost to space exploration research in the College of Engineering,” said William A. “Bud” Baeslack, III, dean of the College. “This opportunity will allow us to build upon our growing aero-propulsion activity, helping us achieve our goal of becoming a leading academic institution for space propulsion and power research.”
“These are exciting times at Ohio State,” said Meyer (Mike) J. Benzakein, chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and 2007 recipient of the Reed Aeronautics Award, the highest award an individual can receive for achievements in the field of aeronautical science and engineering. “The new Glenn Chair, who will be an eminent scholar in the field of Propulsion and Power for Outer Space Applications, will work closely with the NASA Glenn and NASA Marshall Research Centers, as well as with the Propulsion Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory, to define and develop propulsion and power systems for interplanetary travel.”
The gift will also create the Space Exploration Research Fund, which will provide fellowships to support exciting and promising research by students studying science or allied fields for the furtherance of space exploration.