Nagin Cox Speaking Fee: $10,000 to $20,000

As a 10-year-old girl fascinated by Star Trek and Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, Nagin Cox had a dream of exploring space. And through incredible determination, a fighting spirit and a never-quit attitude, she has done just that. Cox has been a spacecraft operations engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for more than two decades and has played a key role on a number of robotic space exploration missions. A native of Bangalore, India, Cox grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As a young woman raised in a Muslim/multi-cultural household, she realized how easily we separate ourselves based on gender, race or nationality. This experience inspired her to do something that brings people together instead of dividing them. The Space Program helps the world “look up” and remember that we are one world, she says. At JPL, Cox has held leadership and system engineering positions on multiple interplanetary robotic missions including the Galileo mission to Jupiter and four of the five rovers the United States has sent to Mars, as well as the Kepler exoplanet hunter. She is currently a Tactical Mission Lead on the Mars Curiosity Rover, as well as an Assistant Mission Manager on the Operations Team of the Mars2020 Perseverance Rover. Before joining JPL, Cox served in the U.S. Air Force as a Behavioral Psychologist and System Engineer in F-16 Aircrew Training and then as a Space Operations Officer at NORAD/US Space Command. Nagin holds engineering degrees from Cornell University and the Air Force Institute of Technology, where she was also the Institute’s first Professor of Practice, as well as a psychology degree from Cornell. Sometimes she is not sure which one she uses more — the engineering degree or the psychology degree! Nagin is honored to be the namesake for Asteroid 14061. She has also received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals. Nagin is an award-winning speaker for both NASA/JPL and the U.S. Department of State. She has spoken to audiences around the world on the stories of the people behind the missions, as well as leadership and the importance of STEM worldwide. TED called her a “first generation Martian” in her talk on one of the humorous sides to robotic space exploration. Cox is a past member of Cornell University’s President’s Council for Cornell Women and has served on the boards of Griffith Observatory Foundation and Impact Personal Safety: Self-Defense & Empowerment for Women. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee for the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch and is an Advisory Council Member for The Planetary Society. In her downtime, Nagin has raced with her dragon boating team, competed in sprint triathlons, participated in CalTech Theatre and sung with a Sweet Adelines barbershop chorus. She also enjoys exploring this planet with her husband.