NFF National Scholar-Athletes
A three-year starter at safety for Illinois, Mike Hopkins helped the Illini to a 24-12 record, a Big Ten title and three bowl appearances. A co-captain of the 1991 squad, he made two interceptions and earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors. Compiling a 3.8 GPA as an aeronautical/astronautical major, Hopkins received the American Legion Scholastic Excellence Ribbon. He earned his master’s in aerospace engineering from Stanford in 1992 and immediately went into the Air Force. Hopkins was commissioned a second lieutenant shortly before graduating from Stanford, and he was stationed at Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M. Hopkins was selected by NASA and the U.S. Air Force to be an astronaut candidate and began training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. In 2009, he was designated as an astronaut.
Hopkins served as a flight engineer on Expedition 37 during the 2013 college football season and sent the Illinois football team a video from the International Space Station each week congratulating the special teams player of the game from the previous game and giving the team a message for the upcoming game. After he returned in March 2014, Hopkins delivered the University of Illinois commencement speech at Memorial Stadium.
