August 17, 2016

In 1963, Drexel receives the right to confer PhDs in certain fields in the sciences, engineering and mathematics. Mechanical engineering doctoral student Richard “Dick” Mortimer receives Drexel’s first PhD in 1967 after previously earning two degrees from Drexel (a BS in mechanical engineering in 1962 and a MS in the same field in 1964). He stays on to teach in that same department for more than 20 years as a professor and department head. During that time, he teaches all three of Drexel’s future astronauts; he himself had completed two co-ops at NASA and regularly received NASA funding to research the response of materials to stress and impacts. More than 30 years after he first stepped foot on campus, Mortimer retires in 1993 as the associate vice president for academic affairs. When he passes away in 2013 at age 77, Drexel holds a memorial in his honor.