6:30pm EST., Friday February 10th

Live at the Loosemore Auditorium

Reaching For Your Own Stars: A Recipe To Succeed In Life

José Hernández's talk features a six ingredient recipe to success that led him to his goal of becoming an Astronaut. Through anecdotal stories of hard work and perseverance, he shares a simple yet effective recipe for reaching your full potential and daring to dream big when you are willing to work hard for it.

José Hernández wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American had been chosen to travel into space. "I was hoeing a row of sugar beets in a field near Stockton, Calif., and I heard on my transistor radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps," says Hernández, who was a senior in high school at the time. "I was already interested in science and engineering," Hernández remembers, "but that was the moment I said, 'I want to fly in space.' And that's something I've been striving for each day since then." 

Hernández flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-128 and has worked at the Johnson Space Center as Chief of Materials and Processes. An engineer by training, Hernández developed digital mammography equipment while at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He is currently a Regent of the University of California.