The Brooke Owens Fellowship was founded to honor the memory of beloved industry pioneer and pilot D. Brooke Owens, who passed away in June 2016 at the age of 36, after a hard-fought battle with cancer. The program was co-founded by Lori Garver, the former Deputy Administrator of NASA; Cassie Lee, CEO of Sound Future; and William Pomerantz, the Head of Space Ventures at AeroVironment. The program was grown and nurtured with the input, assistance, guidance, and encouragement from countless more aerospace leaders whose lives were improved by knowing Brooke.
The fellowship identifies, recruits, and places nearly 400 extraordinary undergraduates into meaningful jobs at phenomenal institutions each summer. Fellows have helped conduct launches; built flight hardware for launch vehicles, aircraft, and satellites; educated and inspired an even younger generation; prepared reports that inform federal policy and industry standards; and have helped their Host companies raise money, impress customers, and deliver on inspiring missions. They have formed one-on-one relationships with mentors that include astronauts, CEOs, a self-made billionaire, and celebrated scientists and engineers.