He is among 29 individuals selected to serve on the advisory group from nonfederal organizations, such as private industry. They will provide expertise and perspectives in relevant fields.

An Indianapolis native, Wolf logged 168 days in space over four separate space shuttle missions, including 128 days aboard the Russian Mir space station and led the “spacewalk” team that constructed the International Space Station. “It is such an honor to represent Purdue as we plot the course to our next ‘giant leaps’ in human achievement, demonstrating we are truly without limits,” he says.

Wolf earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Purdue in 1978. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1990 and is trained as both an astronaut and Russian cosmonaut. Wolf retired from NASA in December 2012 to pursue new entrepreneurial challenges and serve as a visiting professor at Purdue.