Air Force 4-Star General Van Ovost Visits SLU to Meet With STEM Students, ROTC Cadets

Visit follows the signing of an Education Partnership Agreement with U.S. Transportation Command 

St. Louis, MO (Dec. 2, 2022) — U.S. Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost visited Saint Louis University on Wednesday, Nov. 30, to speak with students about her career and how she has challenged the status quo of diversity and inclusion in the military and STEM fields of study.

“When you match your passion and talent, in this case flying, you’ll never work a day in your life,” Van Ovost said.

Van Ovost is one of only four female 4-stars in the Department of Defense and is one of 11 Combatant Commanders. As the 14th commander of U.S. Transportation Command, her mission is to lead the global mobility enterprise, comprised on military and commercial resources, that projects and sustains the Joint Force in support of national objectives. 

She has a diverse operational and training background which includes the command of an air refueling squadron, a flying training wing, the Presidential Airlift Wing, and Air Mobility Command (AMC).

This visit follows the signing of an Education Partnership Agreement (EPA) with U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), the multiple-service Joint command at Scott AFB, this past summer. An EPA is a collaboration between Federal agencies and academia to advance the awareness and study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics topics. 

Leaders from SLU’s School of Science and Engineering, including Scott Duellman, Ph.D., interim dean, Jenna Gorlewicz, Ph.D., associate dean of research and innovation, and Scott Sell, Ph.D., associate dean of undergraduate education, among others, welcomed Van Ovost at the McDonnell Douglas Hall Rotunda. 

“Our discussion focused on how much of our manufacturing has become too specialized and unable to adapt quickly to meet the strategic needs of both our nation and the world,” Duellman said of Van Ovost’s visit. “An example of this can be found in how supply chains needed to adapt to meet medical and consumer needs during the pandemic. Thus, we need to train graduates focused on sustainable and adaptable designs.” 

AMC serves as TRANSCOM’s air component and TRANSCOM is sponsoring the EPA for AMC.

SLU benefits under the EPA include a formal vehicle for resource and information exchange with TRANSCOM and AMC to advance curricula, insight into future government technology and personnel skill needs, a forum that may lead to pursuing competitive research grants and projects, opportunities for further collaboration which may strengthen institutional and overall U.S. competitiveness and improved educational relevance of SLU STEM-related programs based on practical government issues and needs.

Van Ovost next visited SLU’s CHROME/PATH Lab at the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building where undergraduate and graduate students, including ROTC junior Addie Wisniewski, presented their research. Wisniewski, a data science and mathematics major, was eager to hear Van Ovost’s perspective on change point detection on internet traffic anomalies.

Other student presentations covered additive manufacturing (3D printing), machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision to enhance target trackability and object detection/classification in the Arctic seascape.

“These are the students’ own projects that can lead to potential partnerships with Scott Air Force Base to provide an experiential learning opportunity for the students,” said Jasmin Patel, associate vice president and chief of staff in the Office of the Vice President for Research. “It allows students to understand how their own research ideas can have an impact in the real world.”

Patel says the next steps are to continue to evaluate project directions for each individual student. 

Van Ovost then networked with undergraduate and graduate students during a roundtable at McDonnell Douglas Hall. She joined ROTC leadership in coining Cadet Commanders in Cook’s Anheuser-Busch Auditorium at the Chaifetz School of Business. 

Van Ovost also addressed members of the Air Force ROTC Detachment 207 and students from the School of Science & Engineering. She spoke about her efforts to break down barriers and empower the next generation.

About Saint Louis University 

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 13,500 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.

About Air Mobility Command  

Air Mobility Command serves as U.S. Transportation Command’s air component, executing the air mobility mission in support of the joint force, allies, and partners with a fleet of nearly 1,100 aircraft. The command encompasses Eighteenth Air Force, the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, the 618th Air Operations Center, 17 wings and two groups, which provide rapid global mobility from more than 100 locations worldwide.

Nearly 107,000 active-duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Airmen, and civilians comprise the air mobility Total Force, providing command and control of inter-theater and intra-theater airlift, air refueling, aeromedical evacuation, global air mobility support, and presidential and senior leader air transport in support of national interests.  For more information, visit amc.af.mil. 

About U.S. Transportation Command

TRANSCOM exists as a warfighting combatant command to project and sustain military power at a time and place of the nation’s choosing.  Powered by dedicated men and women, TRANSCOM underwrites the lethality of the Joint Force, advances American interests around the globe, and provides our nation's leaders with strategic flexibility to select from multiple options, while creating multiple dilemmas for our adversaries.