Capt. Tammie Jo Shults became one of the first female F/A-18 Hornet pilots in the United States Navy, and after concluding her Navy career she became a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Her successful landing of Southwest Flight 1380, after an engine failure and decompression, saved the lives of 143 passengers.
Dr. Ellen Stofan joined the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum as the John and Adrienne Mars director in April 2018. With more than 25 years’ experience in space-related organizations and a deep research background in planetary geology, Ellen was chief scientist at NASA from 2013-2016. She will oversee a major construction project to the museum’s D.C. location starting in the fall of 2018.
As president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell is responsible for day-to-day operations and managing all customer and strategic relations. She joined SpaceX in 2002 as vice president of business development and built the Falcon vehicle family manifest to more than 70 launches, representing more than $10 billion in business.
As senior vice president of human resources for The Boeing Company since 2016, Heidi Capozzi has led the company’s leadership and learning, talent planning, employee and labor relations, total rewards, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. She is a member of the company’s executive council and joined Boeing in 2009. Previously, Heidi served as vice president of talent & leadership, and ran the company's leadership center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Nagin Cox has been exploring space since she decided as a teenager that she wanted to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Currently a tactical mission lead on the Mars Curiosity Rover at NASA/JPL, Nagin has been a spacecraft operations engineer at NASA/JPL for over 20 years.
Dr. Christine Darden is an internationally recognized authority in the field of sonic boom minimization. She began her 40-year career at the NASA Langley Research Center in 1967 as a data analyst and was reassigned to the position of aerospace engineer in 1973, where she began her work in sonic boom minimization. Her numerous roles at NASA highlights her passion as a researcher and leader.
WAI members seek to inspire and stand for encouragement, continued education, and a whole lot of fun! If you’re a lover of all things aviation and aerospace, and enjoy sharing your passion with others, we’d love to have you! Membership includes job search opportunities, scholarship opportunities, access to mentors in your industry, and much more.
