Higginbotham, Holmes to Serve as Spring 2025 Commencement Speakers

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 31, 2025) – A pair of celebrated pioneers – space explorer Joan Higginbotham and gridiron expert Brad Holmes ’02 – will serve as North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s Spring 2025 Commencement keynote speakers, university officials announced today.

Higginbotham, a retired NASA astronaut, is keynote speaker for the graduate student ceremony Friday, May 9, at 6 p.m. in First Horizon Coliseum at the Greensboro Complex.

Higginbotham is a trailblazing electrical engineer who, in December 2006, flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to become the third African American woman to travel into space. She began her career at NASA in 1987 as an aerospace technologist at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where she worked her way through numerous promotions and actively participated in 53 space shuttle launches during her nine-year tenure. Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1996, she reported to Johnson Space Center in Houston and was assigned various technical duties, including testing modules of the ISS for operability, compatibility, and functionality prior to launch. She logged more than 308 hours in space, retiring in 2007.

Higginbotham then joined Marathon Oil, managing its corporate social responsibility office, and the Bioko Island Malaria Control Program in Equatorial Guinea. She also held multiple director positions at Lowe’s Companies Inc. before serving as director of open innovation at Collins Aerospace. In April 2022, she resigned from corporate America and launched her own aerospace consulting firm, Joan Higginbotham Ad Astra LLC.

Widely recognized for her accomplishments, Higginbotham has been honored by President George W. Bush at the 81^st White House Black History Month Celebration and featured in Alicia Keys’ Superwoman video, is a recipient of the National Space Medal, Adler Planetarium Women in Space Award and NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and was named one of Savoy Magazine’s Top Influential Women in Corporate America and one of Essence magazine’s Top 50 Women, among other accolades.

Born in Chicago, Higginbotham received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIU-C), an M.S. in management and an M.S. in space systems from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), an honorary Doctor of Aerospace Science from SIU-C and an honorary Doctor of Humanities from the University of New Orleans.

Holmes, executive vice president and general manager of the National Football League’s Detroit Lions, is keynote speaker for the baccalaureate student ceremonies Saturday, May 10, at 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., both at in First Horizon Coliseum at the Greensboro Complex.

Holmes joined the Lions on Jan. 14, 2021, after spending 18 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams (2003-20). Starting as a public relations intern, he transitioned into scouting and spent nearly two decades in a variety of roles within the organization’s player personnel department, including National Football Scouting scout, area scout, national combine scout and scouting assistant. In 2013, the Rams elevated him to director of College Scouting, where he helped the Rams achieve a 64-58 record (.524), while having a total of 25 players named to the Pro Bowl during that span. He played an integral role in drafting several key players.

In Detroit, Holmes’ combination of draft success and strategic free agent signings built a roster that achieved historic success for the Lions in 2023. The team finished the season with a 12-5 record, tying the franchise record for the most wins in a single season. The team also clinched a division title for the first time in 30 years and appeared in their second-ever NFC Championship Game, their first since the 1991 season. He was named Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) Executive of the Year for his work in 2023, becoming the first Detroit Lion to win the award.

A Tampa, Florida native, Holmes graduated cum laude from A&T with a B.S. in journalism and mass communications. A defensive tackle, he was a four-year letterman, two-year starter and 2001 for the Aggie football team, which won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Historically Black College and University National Championship under legendary coach Bill Hayes. He is the son of Melvin Holmes ‘67, a Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman (1971-73).

More than 1,500 students, including more than 250 graduate students, will participate in the Spring 2025 ceremonies, which will be livestreamed.