Missy Cummings facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Missy Cummings
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| Born |
Mary Louise Cummings
1966 (age 58–59) |
| Education | United States Naval Academy (BS) Naval Postgraduate School (MS) University of Virginia (PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Pennsylvania State University Virginia Tech Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Washington |
| Senior Advisor to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for Safety | |
| Assumed office October 2021 |
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| President | Joe Biden |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1988–1999 |
Mary Louise "Missy" Cummings, born in 1966, is an American professor. She is famous for being one of the first female fighter pilots in the United States Navy. Missy Cummings has taught at several universities. She also worked for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Currently, she teaches at George Mason University.
Missy Cummings' Education
Missy Cummings studied a lot to become an expert in her field. She earned her first degree in mathematics in 1988. This was from the United States Naval Academy. Later, in 1994, she got a master's degree. This degree was in space systems engineering. She earned it from the Naval Postgraduate School. In 2004, she completed her PhD. This highest degree was in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia.
Missy Cummings' Career
Missy Cummings served in the Navy for eleven years. From 1988 to 1999, she was a naval officer. She became a lieutenant. She was one of the first women to fly fighter jets. She flew an F/A-18 Hornet aircraft. She became a fighter pilot after a rule changed in 1993. This rule had stopped women from flying in combat.
Her book, Hornet's Nest, shares her experiences. It talks about the challenges she faced. She was one of the first women in the fighter pilot community. Her first pilot nickname was Medusa. Later, her second nickname was Shrew.
For her last job in the Navy, she taught at Pennsylvania State University. After leaving the Navy, she became a professor. She taught engineering at Virginia Tech. After getting her PhD, she taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There, she taught about aeronautics and astronautics. In 2016, she became a full professor at Duke University.
As of 2021, Missy Cummings leads the Autonomy and Robotics Center. This center is at George Mason University. She is also a professor there. She is an expert in how humans and robots work together. She is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Working with the NHTSA
In October 2021, Missy Cummings joined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). She became a senior advisor for safety. This was a temporary job. Her appointment caused some discussion. Some people who supported Tesla were critical. This was because she had shared concerns about Tesla's self-driving technology.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg supported her appointment. The NHTSA said they looked forward to her experience. They wanted her help with safety and self-driving cars. In January 2022, she was asked not to work on Tesla-related issues. This was to avoid any conflicts of interest. Later, Missy Cummings left the NHTSA. She then joined George Mason University as a professor. She also became the director of their Autonomy and Robotics Center.
Missy Cummings' Research Focus
Missy Cummings studies how humans control machines. She also researches artificial intelligence (AI). Her work looks at how humans and autonomous systems work together. This includes human-robot interaction. She also studies how technology affects society.
She has written about how machine learning can be fragile. She also writes about future uses for drones. She has also spoken about the safety of Tesla's Full Self-Driving Capability. She believes it relies too much on computer vision.
