LELAND MELVIN Astronaut| Professional Athlete| Keynote Speaker
Call A to Z Entertainment, Inc. today for free information about how to hire or book motivational speaker Leland Melvin. With over twenty years of successful speaker booking experience, we are your best speakers bureau and agency for booking and hiring astronaut, athlete, and keynote speaker, Leland Melvin! We book any inspirational speakers you want and can help you plan and produce your event. Call us today at 888-655-4575 and we’ll be happy to help you!
Leland Melvin, former NASA astronaut says, “The Right Stuff Is The Never Give Up Stuff.” Melvin has:
- Completed two Space Shuttle missions, STS-122 in 2008 and STS-129 in 2009, to help build the International Space Station.
- Been drafted to the NFL by the Detroit Lions
- Served as the co-chair of the White House’s Federal Coordination in STEM Education Task Force, developing the nation’s 5 year plan for STEAM education.
- Hosted Lifetime’s competition series Child Genius and been a judge for the ABC series BattleBots
- Worked on high stakes teams and developed a deep and nuanced understanding of effective team dynamics.
“Houston we have a problem.” Leland Melvin was 25 feet under water in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a 6 million gallon pool, training to perform spacewalks as a NASA astronaut when he called the test director and asked him to turn up the volume in his headset. He never heard a reply and was immediately hoisted out of the pool to learn that he was deaf. Emergency surgery resulting in only partial recovery to his hearing led to him being medically disqualified to fly in space by NASA flight surgeons. This is just one of the many career-ending challenges Leland has overcome in his life.
Before becoming an astronaut, Leland was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 1986 College Draft to play professional football but a hamstring injury thwarted his NFL career with Detroit and then later with the Dallas Cowboys. Leland 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. As a speaker, Melvin has a fascinating story of perseverance and tells how he ultimately traveled off-planet twice on Space Shuttle Atlantis to help build the International Space Station. Through his professional experiences of working on high-stakes teams, Leland has developed a deep and nuanced understanding of effective team dynamics.
Leland Melvin has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in materials science 
engineering. He worked at NASA Langley Research Center in the area of nondestructive testing creating optical fiber sensors for measuring damage in aerospace vehicles. His work has been published in numerous scientific journals. After hanging up his space boots, he was appointed head of NASA Education and served as the co-chair on the White House’s Federal Coordination in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Task Force, developing the nation’s 5-year STEM education plan. Leland was the United States representative and chair of the International Space Education Board (ISEB), a global collaboration to foster interest in space, science and technology.
Melvin 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. Leland is also the host of the Lifetime competition series Child Genius and a judge for ABC’s competition series BattleBots.
Leland Melvin holds four honorary doctorates for his service in education, the sciences and philanthropy. He was chosen as an ICON MANN with Quincy Jones, Forrest Whitaker, Steve Harvey and 24 other men, selected for their ability to inspire people of all ages through their vision and commitment to creating positive change throughout the world.
Leland has been honored with the NFL Players Association “Award of Excellence” for inspiring athletes to pursue excellence on and off the field. He has written a chapter on the power of visualization in Venus Williams’ book Come to Win. Leland has appeared on Top Chef as a celebrity judge and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman, while Cesar Milan helped him with his unruly pooch Jake on an episode of The Dog Whisperer. He was featured in a Sci Fi Channel program documenting the making of the “Reach for the Stars” will.i.am song, which was transmitted to Mars and back to inspire students to pursue STEAM.
After 24 years with NASA as a researcher, astronaut, and Senior Executive Service leader, Leland Melvin looks to share his stories of perseverance and excellence to inspire communities for lasting positive change.
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