Newly Retired Astronaut Named As New A&M-Galveston Chief

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COLLEGE STATION (AP) — Texas A&M University has appointed newly retired astronaut Michael Fossum as the new chief operating officer of A&M's Galveston campus.

In a statement issued Wednesday, A&M officials also said the Air Force colonel and 1980 A&M graduate will serve as a Texas A&M vice president and an executive professor. He will assume his posts March 1.

Fossum worked with NASA since 1993 and was selected as an astronaut in 1998, serving on three space flights and logging more than 194 days in space. Among those hours were more than 48 in seven space walks.

At the time of his recent retirement, Fossum was assistant chief for International Space Station in the Astronaut Offic