Victor Glover, the astronaut who piloted NASA's Artemis II mission around the moon earlier this year, is returning full-time to Cal Poly, where he will serve in a senior leadership and advisory role, the university announced Wednesday.
Shortly after the announcement, Glover joined KSBY Community Reporter Jessica Roe in a live interview from NASA’s headquarters in Houston.
"My Learn by Doing experience at Cal Poly was the launch pad for my journeys around the world and the moon," Glover said. "Though I feel like I've never left, to be able to come back to this institution that has meant so much to me and to my family is a gift. I am excited to give that gift in service to student success!"
Cal Poly confirmed that Glover has taken on a full-time administrative leadership position advising President Jeffrey D. Armstrong, PhD, and other senior leaders on strategic initiatives, partnerships, and philanthropy. The role is focused on positioning Cal Poly, including the Cal Poly Maritime Academy, as a global leader in polytechnic education, research innovation, and workforce development.
Armstrong also spoke with KSBY on Wednesday, emphasizing Glover’s strong background in both the military and aviation and how his experience and vision in those areas are a huge asset to students - and universities - on the Central Coast.
“We sit next to Vandenberg Space Force Base, and with the work that we're doing with Reach (a regional economic action coalition), Hancock community college... UC Santa Barbara, as well as the work we're doing with Cuesta on aviation mechanics, there's just a whole myriad of things where he's going to advise us on,” Armstrong said. “He'll be an amazing ambassador for Cal Poly.”
KSBY conducted research and found that Cal Poly's move to hire Glover mirrors a broader trend among universities with strong aerospace or engineering programs, which have increasingly brought in accomplished astronauts and industry veterans as special advisors or practice-track faculty to strengthen ties between academic programs and the fields they train students for.
Two examples include former NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino, who holds a dual role as professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia and senior advisor for space programs at Intreped Sea, Air & Space Museum, and Scott Hubbard, the former director of NASA's Ames Research Center, who became a consulting professor in Stanford's Aeronautics and Astronautics department. Additionally, aerospace programs at UC Berkeley and the University of Colorado Boulder maintain formal advisory boards and faculty advisors to bring outside industry and government expertise into program strategy and partnerships.
Glover is expected to arrive in San Luis Obispo Wednesday evening and begin orientation Thursday morning at the university's administration building.
The appointment carries deep personal significance. Glover and his wife, Dionna, met on the Cal Poly campus as students in the 1990s, and this month marks 30 years since that meeting. The couple has four daughters who are all Cal Poly Mustangs. Three are currently living on campus as students, and one is a recent graduate who is working part-time as an EMT while applying to medical school.
"The opportunity to be closer to the kids, our daughters there in San Luis Obispo, the timing couldn't be better," Glover said. "We're really happy to be back close and to be working with Cal Poly, which we've always maintained a relationship with, even though we've been in the Navy and NASA."
Glover said he and Dionna are navigating a major life transition together, noting that three of their daughters moved into campus housing last month.
In his new role, Glover will work with the president, provost, college deans and other university leaders to identify and advance strategic initiatives in engineering, applied computing, aerospace, aviation, maritime, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous systems and national defense. He will also serve in an ambassadorial capacity, representing Cal Poly at strategic engagements and encouraging students to pursue STEM fields.
Glover said he also hopes to spend significant time with students outside of a formal classroom setting.
"Maybe not a formal class, but to maybe do some internship roles where we talk about life and I get to share some of the experiences that, hopefully, could be meaningful to these students as they face the challenges and uncertainty of their futures," Glover said.
He expressed particular enthusiasm for the Cal Poly Maritime Academy and the Cal Poly Solano campus, saying his naval background and experience at NASA give him a unique perspective to support students, faculty, and staff there.
"The future of applied research and experiences on the ocean have a lot to do with the oceans of space," Glover said.
Armstrong welcomed the appointment.
"He's going to be able to open doors that I can't open. He's going to go in rooms that I can't go in,” Armstrong told Roe. “Victor is the embodiment of how far 'Learn by Doing' can propel a Cal Poly graduate, and we share a vision of ensuring that our university continues to produce future generations of pioneers and leaders."
Glover joins Cal Poly after retiring from the U.S. Navy and transitioning to an unpaid NASA astronaut emeritus role, which lets him continue contributing to the agency in a limited capacity, with Cal Poly as his new employer. He confirmed Wednesday that his NASA emeritus position is unpaid, making him a special government employee.
"NASA is taking a big chance on this, and I'm going to try really hard to make sure that I make good on them taking this chance on me," Glover said.
He added that he is the first astronaut to participate in the emeritus program in this way, though the program itself is not new.
"We're opening the aperture, not closing it down," Glover said.
The family will travel back and forth between San Luis Obispo and other locations through the end of the year before settling more permanently on the Central Coast after the new year. Glover said they have temporary lodging in place while they search for a more permanent home.
A 1999 Cal Poly graduate with a degree in engineering, Glover has credited the university's Learn by Doing philosophy and his experience as a student-athlete in wrestling and football as foundational to his career. His professional accomplishments include serving as a Navy fighter pilot, completing a legislative fellowship with Sen. John McCain, piloting the second-ever crewed flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon, living aboard the International Space Station for 168 days from November 2020 to May 2021, and piloting the Artemis II Orion spacecraft around the moon in spring 2026, the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.
If you have a story idea you would like to send to KSBY Community Reporter Jessica Roe, you can reach her directly via email at jessica.roe@ksby.com.
