Leland Melvin is the only person drafted into the National Football League to have flown in space. The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored his athletic and academic accomplishments by placing his Detroit Lions jersey under glass in Canton, Ohio. Through these professional experiences working on high-stakes teams he developed a deep and nuanced understanding of effective team dynamics. Melvin has a B.S. in chemistry and an M.S. in materials science engineering. He worked at NASA’s Langley Research Center in the area of nondestructive testing, creating optical fiber sensors for measuring damage in aerospace vehicles, resulting in publication in numerous scientific journals. He uses his life story as an athlete, astronaut, scientist, engineer, photographer and musician to help inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) careers. He is the author of “Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace and Second Chances” (Amistad).
Watch The Ray Bradbury Effect Video