NASA astronaut Victor Glover has transitioned into the role of executive advisor at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), officially beginning his position on September 1. This move follows his service as the pilot for NASA’s Artemis II mission, which conducted a crewed flyby of the moon in April. While Glover has not fully retired from the space agency, he has been granted emeritus status, allowing him to step away from his primary NASA duties while retaining a special government employee classification that includes a NASA email and the ability to return.
Glover described the new arrangement as an opportunity to deepen his relationship with NASA without the constraints of a daily full-time schedule. “It allows me to have just a slightly more robust and meaningful relationship with NASA,” Glover explained. He noted that while his role at Cal Poly is full-time, it will not follow a traditional nine-to-five structure, nor will he serve as a faculty member with teaching obligations. Instead, he aims to support the university wherever it is needed most.
The connection between Glover and Cal Poly is deeply personal. A 1999 engineering graduate, Glover was a two-sport athlete who wrestled and played football for the university. It was also there that he met his wife, Dionna, who is also an alumna. The couple has four daughters, all of whom have attended or are currently attending Cal Poly. In his new capacity, Glover will collaborate with university leadership to identify and accelerate strategic initiatives across various fields, including engineering, aerospace, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and national defense.
Glover credited Cal Poly’s “Learn by Doing” philosophy for his professional success, noting that hands-on experience alongside theoretical learning mirrors the risk-informed decision-making practiced at NASA. “Putting energy and time into building trust is just as important, or more important, as building technology,” he said. He drew parallels between the educational approach and learning to fly, emphasizing that students must critically think and work with their hands.
Before joining NASA in 2013, Glover served as a U.S. Navy aviator and test pilot, accumulating over 4,000 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft and completing 24 combat missions. His most notable spaceflight to date remains Artemis II, where he launched aboard the Orion spacecraft on the Space Launch System rocket on April 1. The mission, which included commander Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, marked the first crewed flight to lunar space since Apollo 17 in 1972.
With Glover and Wiseman now in emeritus status, and Hansen having stepped back from active duty to return to Canada, Koch remains the only Artemis II crew member on the active astronaut roster. However, Glover emphasized that his experience flying Orion remains valuable to the agency. “We can still support our colleagues and their families and the mission while we go off and pursue other opportunities,” he said.
Glover, who previously spent 168 days on the International Space Station as part of SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission, stated that he does not plan to return to space. “If I wanted to go to space, I would have stayed at NASA,” he said, calling the agency the “gold standard.” He acknowledged the achievements of private sector figures like Jared Isaacman but affirmed his satisfaction with his single prior spaceflight.
Glover and his family expect to relocate to the West Coast after the New Year to be closer to Cal Poly. In the meantime, he has made occasional appearances on social media, including TikTok videos with his family celebrating his return from the moon.
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