27-06-2025
Astronaut Butch Wilmore awarded Tennessee Tech's highest honor
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Tennessee Tech University has awarded its highest honor for just the second time in over a century to NASA astronaut Barry 'Butch' Wilmore, a two-time Tech graduate who returned to campus on Thursday for the first time since his 286-day stint at the International Space Station.
The university's Board of Trustees, which Wilmore has been a member of since 2017, convened for a quarterly meeting on Thursday. He was awarded the Order of the Eagle, Tennessee Tech's highest honor. It had only been awarded one other time in the university's 110-year history, when it was posthumously bestowed to former Tech President Everett Derryberry and First Lady and Joan Derryberry in 2015.
Astronaut Butch Wilmore recounts watching Tennessee baseball's title run from space
The board also introduced and unanimously approved a resolution to name the university's newly-built walkway and plaza as 'Wilmore Way.' A formal dedication for the space is tentatively slated for later this fall.
'I have rarely been without words in my life,' said Wilmore. '[I want to] take this opportunity to say thank you. Needless to say, I'm touched, grateful. You all make this very special … Who would have thought, a couple decades ago, walking around this campus … that a day like this would happen? Thank you doesn't seem like it's enough.'
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams discuss extended ISS stay
A native of Hermitage, Tennessee, Wilmore received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Tennessee Tech in 1985 and a Master of Science degree in 1994. He also graduated with a master's degree in aviation systems from the UT Space Institute. He was a letterman and team captain of the Tennessee Tech football team and was inducted into the university's Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
Wilmore and fellow astronaut Suni Williams returned to Earth in March after spending more than nine months aboard the International Space Station. The test flight of Boeing's new Starliner crew capsule that took off in June 2024 was only scheduled to last eight days, but NASA ultimately decided to bring the spacecraft home empty due to issues with the capsule's thrusters. A return trip aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule was initially slated for February, but further issued delayed the flight into March.
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