NASA astronaut and Washington University in St. Louis alum Robert L. Behnken, PhD, presents to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton a photograph of James S. McDonnell that had traveled into space and been signed by his fellow astronauts as Ramanath Cowsik, PhD (right), director of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences and professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, looks on. Behnken (LA ’92, EN ’92) presented the photograph of the aerospace pioneer at the end of the third annual Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lecture Oct. 21, during which he described his experiences as a space shuttle crew member and life on the International Space Station. The lecture was sponsored by the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, which was established in 1975 with an endowment from McDonnell. The lecture is named in memory of Robert M. Walker, PhD, the center’s inaugural director and a pioneering physicist who helped shape research in the space sciences. For more on Behnken’s visit to the WUSTL campus, visit news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21233.aspx.
