James P. Bagian

James Philip Bagian, MD, PE (born 22 February 1952), is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. During his career as an astronaut, he logged 337 hours of space-flight, over two missions, STS-29 (in 1989) and STS-40 (in 1991). After leaving NASA in 1995, Bagian was elected as a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and of the Institute of Medicine. Bagian is currently the Director of the Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety at the University of Michigan.

Bagian is the first and, so far, the only person of Armenian descent to have been in space.

Education

Bagian graduated from Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1969; received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University in 1973, and a doctorate in medicine from Thomas Jefferson University in 1977, where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha.

Experience