Norman “Norm” F. Knight, Jr., DSc, a 1972 pre-engineering graduate, returned to ACM's main campus in his hometown of Cumberland earlier this year.
Astronaut Scott Kelly presented Dr. Knight with the Silver Snoopy Award. Knight is joined by his wife, Patrice, and one of his sons, Jeremy, who is now deceased.
Native Cumberlander has dedicated his career to aerospace engineering
CUMBERLAND, Md. (Oct. 8, 2024) – Norman “Norm” F. Knight, Jr., DSc, received Allegany College of Maryland’s sixth Distinguished Alumni Award. Knight’s extraordinary career in aerospace engineering and academia has helped astronauts safely navigate galaxies. He and his spouse, Patrice, visited the college in late-August to tour the Cumberland campus and to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award.
An ACC advisor guided Knight into “trying” engineering.
After graduating from Allegany High School in 1970, Knight received a scholarship
to attend Allegany Community College (now Allegany College of Maryland) from the Engineers
Club of Cumberland. He was guided into “trying” engineering science by an advisor
who admired his math and science test scores. He continued in the pre-engineering
program because of instructors like Alfred Mudrich (math) and James Mellon (physics)
and two part-time engineering professors who attended Virginia Tech.
From receiving a pre-engineering associate degree in 1972, Knight earned a bachelor’s
(1976) and a master’s (1977) in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Virgina Tech.
He earned a Doctor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering (1984) from George
Washington University/Joint Institute for the Advancement of Flight Sciences at the
NASA Langley Research Center. Knight has authored or co-authored more than 150 journal
articles, technical papers, reports, and presentations throughout his career.
Knight has pioneered safety for generations.
Knight led structural mechanics work with NASA Langley Research Center and the aerospace
private industry and had a successful teaching career in mechanical engineering and
mechanics at Clemson University and aerospace engineering and mechanics at Old Dominion
University. During his eight-year tenure in academia, he directed to completion six
doctoral candidates and 17 master’s candidates. He has received countless recognition
for his work as a mechanical and aerospace professor and a senior principal structures
engineer. Knight, who was inducted into the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society,
was later named a Fellow of both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2002)
and the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) (2010). He was
selected as the Faculty of the Year by the Old Dominion University’s Student Chapter
of the AIAA in 1997.
NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly presented Knight with a space-flown Silver Snoopy lapel
pin (2011), which is a NASA astronaut’s Personal Achievement Award to honor outstanding
performance and contributions to flight safety and mission success. Knight received
the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1989), NASA Space Flight Awareness Awards (2011,
2012), NASA Engineering and Safety Center Engineering Excellence Awards (2006, 2008),
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systms Excellence Awards (2004, 2005, 2008)
and Information Technology Excellence Awards (2010, 2011). In 2011, Senator Mark Warner
recognized the NASA team, which included Knight, for its effort and contribution to
the designs of a carriage tube used to keep 33 Chilean miners alive and a cage that
lifted them 2,300 feet to safety following a catastrophic mine collapse.
He stays grounded through service.
For all his accomplishments, Knight is grounded by what he can do for others. Outside
of academia, he has spoken at public schools and served as a science fair judge to
inspire the next generation of STEM students. In retirement, the professor-turned-engineer
serves those who face confinement. He works primarily with those confined by the justice
system, poverty, food insecurity, a lack of education, or circumstance. He ministers
to others as a volunteer chaplain through the Southeastern Correctional Ministry,
Inc. Knight has served in Awana, a worldwide children's ministry, and on leadership
committees within his church. He has been a GED tutor in math and English within his
community and the Gloucester County Jail through the Literacy Volunteers of Gloucester.
He and his spouse, Patrice, routinely deliver Meals on Wheels to 10-12 individuals,
walk dogs at their local animal shelter, and pack Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.
They are the parents of two sons and live in Gloucester, Virginia.
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