U.S. Naval Academy, 1999
• 1998 First Team Academic All-America® Women's At-Large
• 1999 First Team Academic All-America® Women's At-Large
Lt. Col. Nicole Aunapu Mann was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame on June 10, 2019 during the CoSIDA Convention at the Orlando World Center Marriott.
A decorated soccer standout at Navy, Mann, a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, is now an active astronaut and test pilot. She served as a test pilot in the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet jets and deployed twice aboard aircraft carriers in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In her illustrious career to date, Mann has flown over 2,500 flight hours in 25 types of aircraft, has 200-plus carrier landings, and has flown 47 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2013, Mann was selected as one of the eight members of NASA Astronaut Group 21. At the time of her selection as an astronaut candidate, she was Joint Mission Planning System Expeditionary Integrated Product Team Lead. After finishing her initial training, she worked on the development of NASA's new Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System and the Exploration Ground Systems.
In August 2018, Mann was assigned to the first test flight of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, and she and her fellow crew members are working closely with Boeing to develop their new spacecraft systems. These systems will provide roundtrip crew transportation services to the International Space Station and, along with SpaceX's CrewDragon, return the ability to launch humans into space from United States soil.
The California native graduated in 1999 from the U.S. Navy Academy with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. She was a Trident Scholar and a Distinguished Graduate.
Mann starred on the Navy soccer team from 1995-1998, helping build the program into a perennial power with the first four winning seasons in a streak that would last 21 years. A starter in 74 of her 75 appearances, she guided Navy to its first postseason berth in 1996 and, as a senior in 1998, captained Navy through an undefeated Patriot League campaign for the program's first conference title.
As one of the top players in Patriot League history, Mann earned United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors and First Team All-Patriot League honor all four years and was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Mann was named to the Patriot League All-Decade Women's Soccer Team in 2000 and to the Patriot League Women's Soccer 25th Anniversary Team in 2015.
Mann's many athletic accomplishments were accompanied by an array of academic awards. As a junior and senior in 1997 and 1998, she twice received CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors as she graduated with her mechanical engineering degree and a 3.8 grade point average. The 1998 Patriot League Women's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Mann was named the Patriot League's first-ever Female Scholar Athlete of the Year in 1998-99. Additionally as a senior, she received First Scholar All-American honors by the United Soccer Coaches organization and was the NCAA Woman of the Year candidate from the state of Maryland. The Naval Academy also bestowed Mann, a Trident Scholar, with the Vice Admiral Lawrence Sword for Women. She was ranked fourth in the Naval Academy's Military Order of Merit and ninth in the Overall Order of Merit for the Class of 1999.
After commissioning in the United States Navy, Mann attended graduate school at Stanford where she obtained a master's of science degree in mechanical engineering, specializing in fluid mechanics. Upon completing graduate school, Mann attended The Basic School (Marine Corps officer training in Quantico, Virginia) and after flight training, was awarded her Naval Aviator wings in 2002. She was the Honor Graduate in her US Naval Test Pilot School class.
During her military career, she has received two Air Medals, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. Mann was recipient of the NASA 2015 Stephen D. Thorne Safety Award.
In December of 2017, the United Soccer Coaches organization recognized her as Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Achievement honoree, an award presented annually to a former college men's or women's soccer player who has demonstrated exceptional personal achievement and extraordinary accomplishment that transcends normal expectation and who was an example and inspiration to his/her teammates and university.
