A&T to Honor McNair ‘71 on 40th Anniversary of Challenger Disaster

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Jan. 20, 2026) – It has been 40 years since the space shuttle Challenger disaster killed its seven crew members, including 1971 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University graduate, astronaut and physicist Ronald E. McNair, Ph.D.

McNair’s beloved alma mater will honor him with “40 Years of Inspiration, Innovation and Impact: Beyond the Horizon – Continuing McNair’s Mission.” The observance consists of a symposium and graduate fair to continue his legacy and a public luncheon and panel discussion to celebrate his life.

Dr. Ronald E. McNair Symposium and Graduate Fair

The Dr. Ronald E. McNair Symposium and Graduate Fair will take place Thursday, Jan. 22, through Sunday, Jan. 25. More than 160 TRiO McNair scholars from 52 colleges and universities will participate in campus tours, exploratory activities, networking and seminars throughout the four-day invitation-only event, sponsored by Shell USA.

The symposium includes a graduate fair Friday, Jan. 23, featuring representatives from nearly 40 colleges and universities ranging from Auburn University and Georgetown University to the University of Michigan and William & Mary. The day will start with remarks by John Lowney, Ph.D., N.C. A&T’s executive director of Housing and Residence Life and TRiO McNair Scholar. With more than 25 years of progressive experience in higher education, he is an experienced Title IX adjudicator and educator who also taught in graduate programs and advised student organizations. Scholars also will hear from Joletta Patrick, Ph.D., a Greensboro native who earned her B.S. in electrical engineering from A&T before beginning her career with NASA as a flight controller for the International Space Station. She holds an MBA and DBA, retired from NASA with more than 20 years of federal service, and today serves as CEO of JD Patrick and Associates and an adjunct professor in the School of Business at Guilford Technical Community College.

On Saturday, Jan. 24, scholars will make their own research presentations, take the historic Ronald McNair Exhibit Tour and hear from Dannellia Gladden-Green, PhD., who earned her B.S. in physics from A&T, then enrolled at MIT — just like McNair. She earned her master’s in electronic materials from MIT, her doctorate in electronic materials from North Carolina State University and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. A U.S. patent holder, her career encompasses corporate leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Ronald E. McNair Annual Commemorative Celebration

The commemorative luncheon will be Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Deese Ballroom at the Student Center on campus, with registration required. Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Val Giddings, Ph.D., Greensboro City Councilman Hugh Holston, several TRiO McNair Scholars, students and leaders also are scheduled to speak during the program. An overview of McNair’s undergraduate experience in the Department of Physics at Marteena Hall will precede the luncheon, which will feature a prerecorded message from McNair’s widow, Cheryl McNair, presentations by the Army and Air Force ROTC, performances by North Carolina A&T Fellowship Gospel Choir, announcement of the McNair Elementary School art contest winners, a live painting and a panel discussion.

Leading the panel discussion will be Reggie Goodwin, who earned his B.S. in engineering physics in 1984, his M.S. in 2019 and Ph.D. in 2022, both in nanoengineering, all from A&T and is an Air Force veteran commissioned from AFROTC Detachment 605 at A&T. As environmental engineer for the Environmental Protection Agency enforcing the Clean Air act, he has had an impact on the 10-year phaseout of perchloroethylene in dry cleaning systems, electric arc furnaces new source performance standards reconsideration, aerospace coatings and reworks technology review. An active participant in the martial arts since his first days at A&T, his karate lineage makes Sensei McNair – a fifth-degree black -belt – his grand teacher.

Panelists are:

• Chiquita L. Mays, Ph.D., who earned her B.S. in electrical engineering in 1995 after being selected as a McNair Scholar in 1991 and later earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology. She serves as a member of the A&T Board of Visitors, a former president of the Atlanta Alumni Chapter, and an ambassador for the Ladies of A&T.
• Retired Air Force Maj. Craig R. Harrison, a native of Lake City, South Carolina. He attended A&T on an AFROTC scholarship and graduated magna cum laude in 1991 with a B.S. in industrial technology. He served as a minority admissions counselor as well as a civil engineer, then went on to become an honor graduate of C-130 Navigator Training and later an honor graduate of C-130 Pilot Training. He retired in 2007 and today is a pilot for FedEx based in Memphis, Tennessee.
• Anansi Coleman, a fourth-year A&T student from Harrisburg, North Carolina, studying physics with a concentration in engineering physics in the College of Science and Technology. His involvement in the TRiO McNair Scholars program led him to pursue research in various fields of transition metal oxide thin film rendition and characterization, electrohydrodynamics, molecular dynamics and astronomical imaging. He intends to pursue a graduate degree.
• Croix Thomas, a fourth-year A&T student from Charlotte, North Carolina, studying mechanical engineering with a focus in aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering. She serves as project manager and team captain of Astro Aggies, A&T’s collegiate rocketry team. She has accepted a full-time offer at Honeywell as a manufacturing engineer after graduation.
• James R. Stewart Jr., archivist and special collections librarian at A&T’s F.D. Bluford Library, serving since 2017. He earned a B.A. in visual arts from A&T in 2008 and MLIS in 2014 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Over the past 13 years, he has research and digitized materials from the historical collections of A&T, UNCG, Bennett College, Greensboro College, Laurel University, N.C. State and Wake Forest University.

A march to the McNair bust directly in front of Ronald E. McNair Hall will follow the luncheon.