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Former NASA Astronaut; former Executive Director of the AIAA.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. Sandra H. “Sandy” Magnus is the Principal at AstroPlanetview, LLC and a part-time Professor of the Practice at Georgia Tech. Most recently she was employed by MITRE to act in the capacity of a “temporary government employee” as the Chief Engineer to establish the Traffic Coordination System for Space in the Office of Space Commerce in the Department of Commerce.

Dr. Magnus retired from federal service as the Deputy Director of Engineering in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for the Undersecretary of Research and Engineering. In that role she served as the “Chief Engineer” for the DoD, establishing engineering policy, propagating best practices, and working to connect the engineering community across the department. Prior to joining the DoD, she served as the Executive Director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession.

Selected to the NASA Astronaut Corps in April 1996, Dr. Magnus flew in space on the STS-112 shuttle mission in 2002, and on the final shuttle flight, STS-135, in 2011. In addition, she flew to the International Space Station on STS-126 in November 2008, served as flight engineer and science officer on Expedition 18, and returned home on STS-119 after four and a half months on board. Following her assignment on Station, she served at NASA Headquarters in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Her last duty at NASA, after STS-135, was as the deputy chief of the Astronaut Office.

Before joining NASA, Dr. Magnus worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company from 1986 to 1991, as a stealth engineer. While at McDonnell Douglas, she worked on internal research and development and on the Navy’s A-12 Attack Aircraft program, studying the effectiveness of radar signature reduction techniques. She is a Fellow of AIAA, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has been inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Director of Philanthropic Giving
KCUR, Kansas City's NPR Affiliate

MASTER OF CEREMONIES

David Fulk became an active volunteer with KCUR in 2005 and was named their Volunteer of the Year in 2010. He joined the KCUR staff in 2014 to build a major giving program and serves on the station’s Leadership Team.

David has been a fundraising professional for more than 30 years with decade-plus stints at KCUR, Truman Medical Center (now University Health) Charitable Foundation and William Jewell College, where he received his undergraduate degree in history. David served as co-interim leader of the UMKC Charitable Foundation in 2022 and helped design and lead the $120m fundraising effort for UMKC’s Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building.

He has been a longtime community volunteer in Liberty, Mo., where he resides, serving on the boards of the Liberty Symphony, Liberty Parks and Recreation, Liberty Parks Foundation, and Liberty Arts Foundation. Since 2009, David has been the concert host of the Liberty Summer Band and is the elected City Clerk of Liberty. In Kansas City, he’s served on the board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFPKC) and currently serves as board secretary of Te Deum. He was recognized in 2024 by the Kansas City Royals as a Buck O’Neil Legacy Seat honoree.

Missouri S&T Materials Science
and Engineering; Chemistry

UMSL Philosophy

Mizzou Nutrition & Exercise Physiology

UMKC Ophthalmology

UMSL Optometry

Missouri S&T Biological Sciences

Mizzou Chemical and
Biomedical Engineering

UMSL Computer Science

UMKC Biological and
Biomedical Systems

Missouri S&T Chemical
and Biochemical Engineering

Sunjeev Phull, PhD
Missouri S&T Chemical and
Biochemical Engineering

Sandy Saunders, PhD
Mizzou Pathobiology and
Integrative Biomedical Sciences

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