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Astronaut and ΢²ªÊÓƵ alumnus Stephen Robinson is scheduled to lift off on the space shuttle Endeavour Feb. 7 for a two-week mission to the International Space Station. This will be Robinson's fourth space mission.

Bruce White, dean of the ΢²ªÊÓƵ College of Engineering, has known Robinson since he was an undergraduate.

"Steve has always been amazingly focused, curious and talented. I'm not surprised by what he has done with his life. And, as busy as his NASA career has been, Steve manages to come back to campus for visits, shares his time unselfishly with our students and also sponsors a scholarship fund. We are very proud of him," White said.

White is available to comment on Robinson's undergraduate studies, about his academic training as preparation to be an astronaut, and about his links to ΢²ªÊÓƵ and to the College of Engineering.

Robinson, a native of Sacramento, graduated from ΢²ªÊÓƵ in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical and aeronautical engineering. He also has a master's and a doctorate from Stanford University.

As an undergraduate at ΢²ªÊÓƵ, Robinson took jobs at the university airport and played the sousaphone in the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh. As an alumnus, he established a scholarship for engineering students in financial need. More information and anecdotes about Robinson's links to ΢²ªÊÓƵ can be found at .

A video of Robinson's 2005 public lecture at ΢²ªÊÓƵ is available on iTunesU .

More information about this mission (STS-130) is available at .

Requests for interviews with Robinson should be directed to the Public Affairs office at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

About ΢²ªÊÓƵ

For more than 100 years, ΢²ªÊÓƵ has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, ΢²ªÊÓƵ has 32,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $600 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges — Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools — Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.