John L. Junkins holds the rank of University Distinguished Professor and is Founding Director of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University and holder of the Royce E. Wisenbaker Chair. Over the past four decades, he has made numerous contributions to guidance, navigation, and control of space vehicles and has several inventions in optical sensing. He has over 400 publications including seven books. His work has supported over a dozen space missions. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors, and an Honorary Fellow of AIAA. He is the recipient of over a dozen international honors, including the AIAA Theodore von Karman Award, the AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, the AIAA GNC Award, the AIAA Aerospace Literature Award, the AAS Dirk Brouwer Award, the Frank Malina Medal by the International Academy of Astronautics, and the Tycho Brahe Award by the Institute of Navigation.