In fact, when we speak, Florida Tech alumna Sunita Williams is aboard the International Space Station.
“I get excited. I feel like a kid sometimes when I think about the things we’re working on, from supermassive black holes to human space exploration, hybrid rockets, students building rocket engines, microgravity exercise equipment,” Nicklow says. “It’s all really cool.”
Space certainly captures the imagination, but does space research bring any unique challenges? It’s hard work, Nicklow admits, adding that there is truth to the old saying “it’s not easy to be a rocket scientist”. The good news is that those who do rise to the challenge should not struggle to find a job when they graduate.
“The industry is exploding right now,” Nicklow says. “The number of new businesses moving to the Space Coast every day is amazing. And they all need talent. And we have them coming and saying, we need more engineers, we need more scientists, we need more this and that. The students I talk to – many of them are leaving here with multiple job offers.”
Florida may be leading the world when it comes to space, but it has recently implemented some less than progressive laws related to diversity and inclusion in higher education. In 2023, three bills were signed into law that limit public universities’ efforts to diversify students, faculty or staff, including spending on diversity training.
As a private university, Florida Tech is not subject to the restrictions – and Nicklow is grateful for that.
“Florida Tech is very pleased in this respect to be a private, independent, technologically focused university,” he says. “What I would say is this: we deeply value diversity of thought and perspective. And most importantly, I see it as our job to foster a sense of belonging – for all of our students, and all of our employees.”
His support for diversity is not surprising perhaps, given that Sunita Williams, the Florida Tech graduate who has travelled the furthest – quite literally – is a female, second-generation immigrant. “I often tell students, some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in my life are from people different from me. And that’s diversity.”
This is part of our “Talking leadership” series with the people running the world’s top universities about how they solve common strategic issues and implement change. Follow the series here.
The World University Rankings 2025 will be published on 9 October.
This post was originally published on here
