Retirement Reception for Dr. David Whalen on May 6th
Please join us at a reception in honor of David Whalen, Associate Professor of Space Studies, 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, in the Space Studies library on fifth floor of Clifford Hall. Cake and refreshments will be served. All are welcome to wish him well on his new mission: retirement.
David J. Whalen will retire May 15 after eight years in the Space Studies Department—of which he was the chair from 2007-2010. While at UND, Professor Whalen finished his book on COMSAT (The Rise and Fall of COMSAT, London, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2015), wrote a chapter For All Mankind, in Steven J. Dick and Roger D. Launius, eds., Societal Impact of Spaceflight (Washington, NASA, 2007) wrote several articles for Quest: The History of Spaceflight, an invited paper for the IEEE Proceedings, and many conference papers for the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and more. He taught UND courses in Space History, Space Policy, International Space, Military Space, and the History of Astronomy—as well as the graduate and undergraduate introductory courses. He was nominated for both the undergraduate and graduate teaching awards. He recently received the Mentor of the Year award from the Society of Space Professionals International (SSPI). He is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA.
Prior to coming to UND, Professor Whalen worked for over 30 years in the satellite communications industry—both for manufacturers and operators. His engineering career peaked as Vice-President of Engineering for AsiaSat. Before that, he was a Naval Flight Office in South East Asia for which he received several Air Medals.
Professor Whalen has a B.A. in Astronomy (Boston University), an M.S. in Astronomy (University of Massachusetts), an MBA (College of William and Mary), and a Ph.D. in Science, Technology, and Public Policy (George Washington University). He will receive a B.A. in Classics at the UND May Commencement.
If you are unable to attend, you may extend your congratulations via email at whalen@aero.und.edu