Class of '88 Chooses Commencement 2013 Chief Marshal

Astronaut Stephanie D. Wilson ’88 will serve as Harvard’s chief marshal and lead her fellow alumni into Harvard Yard for Commencement 2013, the Harvard Alumni Association announced in a press release Tuesday.

Wilson, who flew three missions on the space shuttle Discovery and is the second African American woman to travel into space, was elected by her classmates—this year’s 25th reunion class—to perform various Commencement duties as a member of the HAA’s Happy Observance of Commencement Committee, also known as The Happy Committee.

“I am very humbled to have been selected among such accomplished and talented candidates,” Wilson said in the press release. “In an era where inspiring and educating the next generation is crucial, Harvard provides unique opportunities to excel in any chosen field. I look forward to serving as chief marshal for the 2013 Harvard Commencement and to ushering the next generation of leaders into the world.”

Wilson’s election as chief marshal is not the first recognition she has received for her engineering career or for her involvement with Harvard. A member of Harvard’s Board of Overseers—the University’s second highest governing body—since 2007, Wilson received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal twice and the Space Flight Medal three times, as well as the Harvard Foundation Scientist of the Year Award in 2008.

HAA President Carl F. Muller ’73 said in the press release that Wilson’s career is demonstrative of the potential of a Harvard College education.

“This answers the question, ‘What does one do with a liberal arts education?’ Literally and figuratively, fly to the moon,” Muller said. “Perhaps astronaut Wilson will start a Harvard Club in outer space.”

The University’s 2013 Commencement activities—Harvard’s 362nd—will take place on May 30.

—Staff writer Samuel Y. Weinstock can be reached at sweinstock@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @syweinstock.