We love that Richmond is a place where lifelong mentoring relationships develop between students and faculty. And we can’t help but swell with #spiderpride when we’re reminded of the power of those bonds.

Take NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, R’86, who recently came back to campus to talk about his new book, Chasing Space, as part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies.

In his talk, Melvin told story after story of overcoming adversity: dropping a game-winning touchdown pass, losing his hearing during astronaut training, and facing technical problems as he installed a billion-dollar laboratory onto the space station with a robotic arm. Throughout it all, he said, there were always people who believed in him and told him so. One of the most important to him was his UR chemistry professor, Bill Myers.

Melvin almost left UR his freshman year. He stood accused of violating the honor code during prep for one of Myers’ tests and was told he would be dismissed. Then he got a call from Myers, who said, “Come to my office.” There, Myers said that he didn’t think the violation had happened and offered Melvin a deal: You can stay in school, but you have to help with my lab research all four of your years here.

He did, and he thrived — and the two men, professor and student, became lifelong friends. Myers was on hand to witness both of Melvin’s launches, and in space Melvin wore the Casio calculator watch Myers had given him as a student. 

Sadly, Myers passed away last fall. But during his talk, Melvin proudly recognized Myers’ family in the audience. That’s the power of the Spider community.