WT’s Distinguished Lecture Series to blast off with space pioneer

CANYON — The next West Texas A&M University Distinguished Lecture Series event will be out of this world with the first Latina astronaut in space.

Dr. Ellen Ochoa will discuss the importance of STEM education, among other topics, at WT’s Distinguished Lecture Series event at 6 p.m. Oct. 17 in Legacy Hall in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on the Canyon campus.

The event rounds out Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations sponsored by WT’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion.

Ochoa commenced her NASA journey in 1988 when she worked as a research engineer at the Ames Research Center. Two years later she secured her role as an astronaut at the Johnson Space Center and took part in four missions as the first Hispanic woman to go to space, recording close to 1,000 hours in orbit, starting with Discovery in 1993.

She later was named the 11th director of the Johnson Space Center, making her the first Hispanic director and second female director of the center, where she served from 2013 to 2018.

“I got interested in becoming an astronaut when the space shuttle was developed because it was capable of so many different activities in space, including scientific research in many different disciplines,” Ochoa said.

The California native received her bachelor’s degree in physics at San Diego State University. She furthered her studies at Stanford University where she graduated with her master’s degree and a doctorate in electrical engineering. Ochoa has earned numerous accolades throughout her career, including NASA’s highest award, the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award for senior executives in the federal government, and the Distinguished Service Medal.

“Dr. Ellen Ochoa has made great strides in her work in science and research,” said Angela Allen, WT’s chief diversity and inclusion officer. “Dr. Ochoa’s accomplishments give representation and empowerment not just to women in STEM, but also to the Hispanic population.”

Her accomplishments include many technical papers and three patents, and six schools have been named for her. She is involved in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and American Association of the Advancement of Science, and she chairs the nomination evaluation committee for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

“There are so many bright minds out there, and to be able to see someone who looks like you accomplishing things like research and space provides a path for Hispanics and others of Latin American descent,” Allen said. “STEM fields are some of the fastest growing fields with so many opportunities, and being able to meet Dr. Ochoa and hearing her story gives possibilities to so many of those who dare to dream."

Series to bring Hispanic culture to life through poetry

An award-winning Mexican poet invested in Latin American indigenous cultures will share poetry that honors the perspectives of Native American and Latin American customs and traditions.

The WT Distinguished Lecture Series will present “Latinx Poetry and the Stories of America” featuring Judith Santopietro at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex Recital Hall.

The Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages will host the event, which is free and open to the public.

“The WT Spanish program has been bringing Hispanic women poets each fall semester since 2017,” said Dr. Andrew Reynolds, professor of Spanish. “We are very excited about Judith’s visit and the way she gives voice to indigenous cultures that are often forgotten or left out when we think about ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Mexican-American’ stories.”

Santopietro holds a master’s degree in Iberian and Latin American literatures and cultures from the University of Texas at Austin and has carried out research residencies in The Netherlands, New York City and Bolivia.

“I became a poet because I wanted to recreate in my poems those extraordinary characters of the oral history — nahuales, chaneques, flying women and other extraordinary beings,” Santopietro said.

Santopietro has published two books: “Palabras de Agua” in 2010 and “Tiawanaku. Poemas de la Madre Coqa (Tiawanaku. Poems from the Mother Coqa)” in 2019. She was awarded the Lázara Meldiú National Poetry Prize in 2014 and was a finalist for the Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation in 2021. She has published in the “Anuario de Poesía Mexicana 2006” and “The Brooklyn Rail,” and also has participated in numerous festivals, including PEN America’s World Voices Festival in New York in 2018.

In addition, Santopietro directed “Iguanazul: literature on indigenous languages” (2005-2016), a project to highlight native languages through oral tradition, literature and arts.

“I experiment with the language, Náhuatl, into my poems to recreate sounds, rhythms, and even some memories of my foremothers,” Santopietro said.

Currently, Santopietro is writing a poetry book on enforced disappearance in Mexico and a novel on indigenous migration in the US. She has joined the fall residency of the Iowa International Writing Program.

“It is important to see migration and displacement not as political issue that led to loss of culture, family, and language, but as a way of resistance to build and nurture communities, recreate culture and language, to exist with our voice and presence in the new territories inhabited,” Santopietro said.

In addition to the evening performance, Santopietro will lead “A Poetry and Writing Discussion” at 12:20 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Cornette Library Blackburn Room.

“The Americas is a vibrant continent in terms of languages and cultures,” Santopietro said. “We definitely are part of a living creature, and our steps write a long poem on it.”

WT has been an official Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: WT’s Distinguished Lecture Series to blast off with space pioneer