Beyond the Horizon: Honoring Ronald McNair’s Lasting Impact

January 28, 1986, is a date that anyone old enough will remember where they were and what they were doing. Tragically, that morning, only 73 seconds into liftoff, the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all seven astronauts on board. The first fatal shuttle mission in American history, millions worldwide watched this event unfold, a number amplified by extensive live coverage for schoolchildren and everyday citizens who planned to follow Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian and “Teacher in Space.” While Aggies grieved the loss of all seven astronauts, we were especially in mourning for our hero, Dr. Ronald E. McNair, PhD (1950–1986).

Ronald McNair’s official NASA portrait, taken July 1985

Ron McNair ’71 fully embodied “Aggie Pride” and certainly “Aggies Do” long before another generation would ever say it. He was a renaissance man who was not only the second African American in space, but also a sixth degree karate sensei, an accomplished jazz musician, honorary cinematographer, and a leading expert in laser physics. After his first space flight in 1984, the City of Greensboro and North Carolina A&T held a full “Ron McNair Day” in his honor. A&T was always dear to him, as he was the co founder of the NCA&T Space Shuttle Program and speaker for the 1980 convocation. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from A&T in 1978 after his selection by NASA.

The Challenger explosion 40 years ago occurred within a season of high Aggie Pride and sweeping Black history. A NASA mission with Charles L. Bolden, the fourth African American in space, who was motivated to join NASA by Dr. McNair, had successfully landed only ten days earlier. The first national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was January 20, 1986. A&T was approaching its 95th anniversary with many changes, including a new 8.5 million dollar engineering building. Dr. Ronald McNair was preparing for his second space voyage aboard the Challenger, the same vessel where Guion Bluford became the first African American in space in 1983, McNair the second in 1984, and Frederick Gregory the third in 1985.

Screenshot of Ronald McNair and Christa McAuliffe in conversation just before a briefing in the lobby of the Burke Baker Planetarium at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Texas, November 19, 1985, from the National Archives

The explosion was also a double tragedy for HBCUs, as Dr. McNair and Christa McAuliffe were the first and second HBCU graduates in spaceflight. McAuliffe earned her master’s degree in education supervision from Bowie State University in 1978. Both were among the most widely covered HBCU graduates of their generation and key figures in the 1980s revival of HBCU visibility, recruitment, and national relevance. While many HBCU graduates, including several outstanding Aggies, have worked for NASA and in aeronautics, McNair and McAuliffe remain the only HBCU alumni to have flown aboard a space shuttle mission.

Immediately after the tragedy, the university went into mourning. A campus memorial service was held on January 31, 1986, in Moore Gymnasium. Over 3,500 people attended, with coverage by 68 journalists, a record for an A&T event at the time. Remarks were delivered by Chancellor Edward B. Fort, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Greensboro Mayor John Forbis, A&T Alumni President James Gooch, and several others. This service marked the beginning of a sacred tradition in Aggieland of honoring Dr. McNair on or near each January 28.

A&T Space Shuttle Program patch from the 1994 Endeavor mission, gift of Dr. Thomas Sandin

Before his untimely death, Dr. McNair invested significantly in STEM research and education at A&T. In 1979, he helped organize and serve as a consultant for the A&T Space Shuttle Program, which by 1986 had enrolled 78 students across 12 majors. Under the leadership of physics professor Dr. Stuart Ahrens, the program later completed experiments launched aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor in September 1994. That same year, A&T became the first HBCU to partner with the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Fittingly, the Endeavor was the shuttle built to replace the Challenger, symbolizing that the spirit of Ronald McNair would continue to soar.

Numerous honors and tributes to Dr. McNair exist today across campus. The most prominent is the Ronald E. McNair Engineering Building, dedicated in 1987, along with a bust created by local sculptor Janos Farkas. The building’s lobby houses unique tributes, including paintings by A&T master visual artist Charles Watkins, McNair’s karate dojo patch that he carried aboard the Challenger, and replica models of the Challenger and the NASA space station, both dedicated in 1987.

A&T was proudly known in the 1980s as the university “Where Dreamers Become Achievers, From Astronauts to Presidents,” as Chancellor Edward B. Fort often stated in reference to Dr. McNair and Reverend Jesse Jackson ’64.

Further continuation of Dr. McNair’s legacy emerged in 2023, when A&T became the first HBCU to award two Astronaut Scholarships in a single cycle, producing three recipients. From these developments, it is entirely possible that the next HBCU graduate to travel into space will be an Aggie.

Perhaps Dr. McNair’s greatest legacy for A&T and students nationwide is the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, also known as the Ronald McNair TRIO Program, which prepares eligible participants for doctoral studies through involvement in research and scholarly activity. The program boasts outstanding alumni across A&T and throughout the nation. Chantal Fleming ’87, executive director of TRIO Programs at A&T, shared, “The A&T TRIO McNair Scholars have the opportunity to walk the same campus and halls as the late great Dr. McNair, which provides renewed motivation, inspiration, and encouragement as they move forward with purpose. I am truly humbled and honored to serve as director of the TRIO Ronald McNair Program here at A&T.”

Nikia J. Commodore, academic coach for TRIO Student Support Services, added, “Working in TRIO for ten years, I was always familiar with the name McNair because of the TRIO McNair programs, but it was not until I came to A&T that I truly learned the man behind the name and witnessed his legacy lived out by our incredible students. It is inspiring to see how A&T honors both his work and his life.”

Dr. Ronald E. McNair, PhD, remains one of the most requested alumni for research in A&T’s historical records, with inquiries coming from around the world from authors, documentary filmmakers, educators, and inspired students.

The University Archives and Special Collections proudly preserve an expanding collection of materials related to Dr. McNair. These collections began when he donated signed NASA materials in 1984. Additional materials were added over the past four decades by archivists Sadie B. Smith, the late Gail Favors, Inez Lyons, and Gloria Pitts. Further contributions include donations from retired A&T physics faculty Dr. Thomas Sandin and Dr. Stuart Ahrens, poetry from Dr. Reginald Goodwin, gifts from Mrs. Cheryl McNair and Carl McNair, and rare materials from the estate of Mrs. Henrietta Gamble, Dr. McNair’s devoted high school teacher from Lake City, South Carolina. Additional recollections and artifacts have also been donated by numerous faculty members and alumni.

Materials related to Ron McNair are also housed within the records of the A&T Alumni Association and Office of Alumni Affairs, the Department of Physics, Chancellor Emeritus Edward B. Fort, the university’s audio and video collections, and the offices of the Ronald McNair TRIO Scholars Program.

Significant government documents related to Dr. McNair, NASA, and aeronautics have been transferred and cataloged by the faculty and staff of the Serials, Government Documents, and Cataloging departments at F. D. Bluford Library, forming a new Ronald McNair NASA Legacy Collection. Archives staff are currently developing a Ronald E. McNair LibGuide to further assist with research inquiries.

If you have recollections of Ronald McNair, memories of January 28, 1986, or wish to learn more about A&T history, please contact the University Archives at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.

By James R. Stewart Jr. ’08

This article is written in memory of Dr. Ronald E. McNair, PhD, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Dr. Judith Resnick, PhD, Michael J. Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Commander Francis “Dick” Scobee, Francis R. Scobee, and Gregory Jarvis.