Scott Bailey

Scott Bailey loves space. As professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Bradley Senior Faculty Fellow, Scott is Director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Space Science and Engineering Research – otherwise known as Space@VT.

And if you haven’t visited space.vt.edu, do so. The things going on there will blow your mind. Seriously.

A prolific researcher, writer, and presenter, Scott’s scholarship has been funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research. He is also an advisor to NASA. 

Scott is an admirable and devoted scholar whose work betters our understanding of space and our place in it. His research involves flying remote sensing instrumentation in space. He said, “Rocket launches are an unparalleled rush, especially when it all works.”

But sending rockets into space and helping to train future space engineers is Scott’s day job. He has another equally demanding role as President of the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership.

In 2016, during the Syrian refugee crisis, Scott and a handful of co-founders created the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership. Without any previous experience in what it takes to help relocate refugees, they formed a small grass-roots organization and made connections with refugee organizations, eager volunteers, local businesses, housing resources, political leaders, advocates, and religious groups.

His nominator wrote, “Scott has led this organization with humility, curiosity, and courage. He approaches every hurdle and every unknown with compassion and an openness to seek help from others. He is bold in his willingness to go out of his comfort zone to help others. He did what he thought was right, not for glory or praise and not because it was convenient and easy, but because he couldn't sit back and watch without trying to help. Scott sought to make a difference -- and he has.”

Scott is fiercely caring about the volunteers and the families that the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership supports. He said, “Each person I meet in this work inspires me in some significant way.”

Scott has learned that failure is a natural step towards success. He said, “Courageous leaders don’t have all the answers. They listen to those around them and find the answers together. They are determined and they push forward, but they are vulnerable and open to being wrong. The thing to learn is that each of us will receive all kinds of criticism along our path. We don’t need to join the critics. We should be our own humble advocates. Pursue the things you believe in with all you have.

“I believe that both as a professor and as a leader of Blacksburg Refugee Partnership, it is my role to create opportunities for people to learn, to grow, and to shine. These people may be students, young professionals, newly arrived refugees, or volunteers. I love seeing people do things that fulfill them or that they take pride in and knowing that in some way I helped provide the opportunity for them to do that.”

I am honored to present the faculty-staff Aspire! Award for PREPARE FOR A LIFE OF COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP to Dr. Scott Bailey.