Calling all astronauts! UND alumna Karen Nyberg to speak about scholarship, space

January 20, 2026

Published in: Affinity, Learning

Veteran NASA astronaut to visit UND for special presentation celebrating new partnership with Astronaut Scholarship Foundation

WHO: Veteran NASA Astronaut Karen Nyberg, UND ’94

WHAT: UND and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) will host a kickoff event celebrating UND’s new partnership with ASF, featuring a presentation by veteran NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg. The program will include welcome remarks, an ASF video, partner highlights from UND leadership, and a Q&A session. A reception will follow (food and drinks provided).

WHEN: Monday, Jan. 26, 4 to 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Odegard Hall, Atmospherium

UND and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) invite members of the media and campus community to attend the 2026 Astronaut Scholarship Foundation event, featuring a special presentation by veteran NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg.

Nyberg was selected as a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps in 2000 and has completed two spaceflights. She made her first trip to space aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 2008, during the height of International Space Station (ISS) construction, delivering and installing the Japanese Laboratory. On her second spaceflight in 2013, she launched on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and lived and worked aboard the ISS for 166 days.

The event will begin with a welcome and overview of the new UND–ASF partnership, followed by an ASF video and remarks on the significance of the partnership and the opportunities it creates for UND students. Nyberg will then deliver a featured space presentation, followed by a Q&A session. A reception will conclude the evening.