Honorary Degree Recipient France A. Cordova
The Honorable France A. Córdova was the 14th director of the National Science Foundation, appointed by President Obama in 2014 to serve a six-year term that ended in 2020. An astrophysicist, Córdova was the first woman to serve as NASA's chief scientist, and she also received the Distinguished Service Medal, NASA's highest honor. She is president emerita of Purdue University and chancellor emerita of University of California, Riverside. Córdova has also served as chair of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. She received an honorary Doctor of Science and Technology at Carnegie Mellon University's 123rd Commencement on May 22, 2021.
