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Explore. Achieve. Lead.

Excellence in academia and research arise from a collaboration between outstanding students and faculty in an environment that fosters opportunities to explore interests, gain understanding, and contribute to solutions of important research questions.

In ���񱦵�'s Ann & H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, The Smead Program provides excellence in research, academic programming, and personal and professional enrichment for the brightest minds pursuing graduate- and faculty-level research in aerospace engineering.

The Smead Program incubates a well-rounded community for support and collaboration between the Smead Scholars (PhD Students), Smead Faculty Fellows, the��, the��Michael M. Byram Distinguished Visiting Professorship, and the Smead Space Technology Chair. The Smead Program also supports an annual Fall Dinner for Smead Program participants, and a spring Smead Symposium that takes place every year in Colorado’s Vail Valley.

Smead Scholars

The Smead Scholarship for Graduate Students��was��established in 2006 to honor the memory of Dr. Harold J. “Joe” Smead (learn more about Dr. Smead in the "About Our Namesakes" page).

Original funding for the Smead Scholars Program was provided in 2006 by Joe’s widow, Ann, and Michael Byram, then president of the University of Colorado Foundation, in honor and respect for a man who achieved so much and yet was so modest about his accomplishments and generous philanthropy, including to this very department.��To qualify and be selected as a Smead Scholar is a singular and distinguished honor in an individual’s academic career.

Faculty Fellows

The Smead Faculty Fellowship is an honor bestowed to leaders from the current Smead Aerospace faculty. These Fellows are chosen for their outstanding research records and mentorship qualities, supporting both groundbreaking science and the Smead Scholars.

Byram Distinguished Visiting Professorship

The Michael M. Byram Distinguished Visiting Professorship brings an internationally renowned external researcher to ���񱦵� for one to two semesters each year, further amplifying the research impact of our department.

Steering Committee and Program Leadership

The Smead Program leadership team includes two endowed chair positions – the A. Richard Seebass Endowed Chair and the Smead Endowed Chair of Space Technology.