Two N.C. A&T Students Selected as 2025 Astronaut Scholars

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Nov. 7, 2025) – Two North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University students, Avery Love and Alexis Spence, have been named 2025 Astronaut Scholars by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). Each will receive up to $15,000 in financial support from the nonprofit, which recognizes high-achieving junior and senior undergraduates pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Established in 1984 by the six surviving Mercury 7 astronauts, the ASF was created to encourage university students to pursue scientific advancement and help ensure the nation’s global leadership in technology. In addition to financial support for eligible educational expenses, Astronaut Scholars gain lifelong engagement opportunities with astronauts, executives, researchers, innovators and alumni through the Michael Collins Family Professional Development Program. They also receive a fully funded trip to attend ASF’s Innovators Symposium and gala, which includes a technical conference where scholars present their research.

North Carolina A&T became the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to be an ASF Partnering Institution in 1994. Since spring 2020, A&T’s nine Astronaut Scholars have earned up 10 Astronaut Scholarships worth $145,000 in listed benefits. To date, the university has produced 22 students, including Love and Spencer, who have received 25 Astronaut Scholarships.

The 2025 Astronaut Scholarship selection cycle marks the first time more than one A&T student has been selected in their first year of eligibility. It is also the first time any HBCU has had more than one student selected as an Astronaut Scholar in their first year of eligibility.

“I am delighted to celebrate this accomplishment of Avery and Alexis. It is students like these two who embody the spirit of A&T, make The Honors College extraordinary and shape a better future for all,” said Margaret I. Kanipes, Ph.D., Honors College dean.

Love, of Harrisburg, North Carolina, is a junior pursuing a B.S. in chemistry and biology and maintains a 3.86 GPA. A Cheatham-White Scholar and Honors College student, he conducts Alzheimer’s disease research under College of Science and Technology professor Thomas Forshaw, Ph.D., developing methods to study brain metabolism using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Love has also completed research at Yale and Duke universities, examining the biochemical composition of marine organisms and RNA structures linked to neurodegenerative and cancerous diseases. His work has earned multiple presentation awards, including first place at the 2024 Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering Undergraduate Research Symposium and a travel award to the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists.

Beyond research, Love serves as vice president-elect of the Gamma Sigma Epsilon Chemistry Honor Society, social media chair for the Aggie Chemical Society, and secretary for the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in in bioanalytical chemistry, with a focus on developing methods to understand the molecular mechanisms of disease. 

“Research allows me to use my curiosity and creativity to create a healthier future for all of Earth’s creatures,” said Love. “The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has further ignited my passion for biomedical research by providing invaluable support and guidance for my career as a Black scientist. This award furthers my goals of improving health outcomes inside and outside the lab.”

Spence, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a junior pursuing a B.S. in physics with a minor in theater, with a focus on professional acting. A Chancellor’s List student who was valedictorian of her graduating class at George Washington High School, she combines her passions for science and the arts to make physics more accessible and engaging to diverse audiences.

Spence’s research spans experimental astrophysics and particle physics, including work at the University of Chicago through the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics group, where she engineered components for an experimental telescope studying ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. In summer 2025, she joined the Department of Energy’s Stanford Linear Accelerator Center to develop particle detectors with the Dark Matter-Quantum Information Science group. She earned the 2024 Beth Brown Memorial Award for Best Undergraduate Poster at the National Society of Black and Hispanic Physicists conference.

In addition to her research and academics, Spence serves as media chair for the Society of Physics Students and as an acting coach and gymnastics instructor. She aspires to pursue research at CERN and promote public engagement in physics through education, performance, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

“Science requires a new level of creativity in order to leverage changes from modern innovation. For many minorities, science is an intimidating field; however, their input and presence is needed,” said Spence. “I am passionate about using the medium of art to bring new ideas to STEM fields. Through my research, science communication, and even my personal talents and hobbies such as gymnastics, I aim to change the public’s image of science.”

Love and Spencer were competitively endorsed to apply for the 2025 Astronaut Scholarship after campus review and working with Alsace-Lorraine Gallop, A&T’s national scholarships and fellowships coordinator and Fulbright Program Adviser since fall 2018, through NCAT Extraordinary Opportunities.

“It continues to be my honor to recruit and help prepare innovative and determined Aggies such as Avery and Alexis, as well as others who pursued Astronaut Scholarship endorsement,” said Gallop.  “Avery and Alexis are just getting started and I’m excited to see how they will use their brilliance to advance STEM knowledge for the greater good.”

A&T’s STEM students and faculty should email Gallop at acgallop@ncat.edu now to learn more about the required endorsement application process for the 2026 Astronaut Scholarship well in advance of the national deadline in March 2026.