Thomas B. Spencer, Ph.D., M.B.A., is the Associate Vice President for Research Operations at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Faculty Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. Before joining UTRGV he held faculty appointments at The University of Texas at Dallas and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He has worked in Academia and Research Administration for 20+ years and is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA). Space exploration has been a part of his imagination and love since early life. Even before he started school, he was fascinated by NASA missions and regularly asked his parents--probably pestered them -- for more information on space travel. In elementary school, he was selected as an ‘astronaut’ for the Space to Learn program that was a school district-wide event that instructed elementary school children about space sciences, and included, a life changing visit to the planetarium, where he earned about the sheer depth of space. As a high school student, he visited the Kennedy Space Center. A few years later, he planned a trip to Florida with the sole intent of watching a Space Shuttle launch. The sights and sounds of humans being rocketed into space ignited his passion for NASA and space travel. As a working adult his career in research administration frequently takes him to Washington DC, where he always finds time to visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.