Alumnus, astronaut to speak April 2

David Hilmers ’72, a doctor and former astronaut, will be on campus to give a talk titled “Space is not the Final Frontier.” He’ll speak at noon in the Hedges Conference Room on the middle level of the Thomas Commons.

Hilmers will talk about his experiences in the Marines, at NASA, as well as in medicine and medical missions. Hilmers flew on the first NASA mission after the space shuttle Challenger exploded.

Now a doctor and professor of medicine in Houston, Hilmers became a physician more than 20 years after graduating from Cornell College. The DeWitt, Iowa, native works on fighting malnutrition worldwide and also takes several medical mission trips each year. He is coming to campus as part of the Beta Omicron Distinguished Alumni Visitors program.