Patti Grace Smith Fellowship

The Patti Grace Smith Program seeks to connect exceptional Black students with the resources to begin their careers in aerospace, with the goal of increasing the visibility, participation, and retention of Black students in order to enrich the historically homogeneous aerospace industry.^[5][6]

This program's mission is directly inspired by Smith, who at age 16 served as a plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case that integrated public schools in Alabama.^[7] She graduated from Tuskegee University with a bachelor's degree in 1969 and worked for the US Senate Commerce Committee, US Department of Defense, and the Federal Communications Commission.^{[citation needed]} She joined the Office of Commercial Space Transportation and rose to the position of Chief of Staff and then to Associate Administrator of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).^{[citation needed]} She was also appointed by President Obama to serve on the NASA Advisory Council and the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.^{[citation needed]}

Smith fostered the growth of the nascent commercial space industry through deregulation, with the construction of the Mojave Air & Space Port and 2004 flight of SpaceShipOne occurring under her tenure. According to Elon Musk, Smith "helped lay the foundations for a new era in American spaceflight.”^[8]

The fellowship was founded by NASA Astronaut B. Alvin Drew, Virgin Galactic engineer Khristian Jones, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center lead engineer Tiffany R. Lockett, and Virgin Orbit Vice President William Pomerantz in 2020.^[9] It is closely modeled after the successful Brooke Owens Fellowship.

The program offers students their first paid summer internship at top space companies (including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, etc.),^[10] travel stipends, and mentorship from notable Black aerospace leaders, including former NASA administrators (e.g. Charles Bolden, astronauts (e.g. Robert Curbeam, academics (e.g. Daniel E. Hastings, and company executives.^[11] Fellows are also paired with peer mentors^[12] and are flown out to the annual summit in Washington, D.C. to network and meet industry leaders.

As of 2022, the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship has 80 alumni across two cohorts hailing from 40+ different universities, including Ivy League colleges, HBCUs, community colleges, and major public universities

Each year, dozens of students from around the United States apply.^[13] Approximately forty are selected through a holistic evaluation of merit, passion for aerospace, and community involvement.^[14] This is done primarily by means of interviews and essay responses, with academic achievement and volunteer activities also weighted. Finalists are matched with host companies, who independently conduct interviews and award offers.