1st Graduation in Space Dies With Shuttle Member Jarvis

When astronaut Gregory B. Jarvis climbed aboard the ill-fated space shuttle Challenger last week, he planned to conduct experiments in space aimed at designing better satellites.

But the 41-year-old Jarvis, who worked at Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo and lived in Hermosa Beach with his wife, Marsha, also planned to become the first person to get a college degree in space, and he apparently worked on his thesis until the last minute.

The day after the tragedy, Jarvis’ handwritten thesis arrived by air express at West Coast University in Los Angeles, said Prof. Norm Oglesby, head of the business school. In a note attached to the thesis, Jarvis apologized to the professor for not having completed the thesis earlier, and said a copy of his unsigned diploma was already tucked aboard the spacecraft.

‘I Couldn’t Believe It’

When the package arrived, Oglesby said, “I couldn’t believe it, I just couldn’t believe it. We had been talking to the media about him, and here comes this package.”

Oglesby said the school’s president, Robert M. L. Baker Jr., had planned to sign the diploma once the shuttle was in orbit, thereby officially making Jarvis the first person to get a degree while in outer space. The signed diploma was to have been presented to Jarvis at a ceremony after he returned home.

The thesis was the final requirement Jarvis had to fulfill before earning a master’s of science degree in management, Oglesby said. He said it will be awarded posthumously.

Jarvis, who had been working toward the degree at West Coast since 1970, already had degrees in electrical engineering from State University of New York at Buffalo and from Northeastern University in Boston.

He also had enrolled in classes over the past several years at El Camino College in Torrance, said El Camino spokeswoman Mary Ann Keating. Among the classes he took, she said, were astronomy, anthropology and real estate.

Postmarked Day of Launch

Oglesby speculated that Jarvis had asked a friend or secretary to send the thesis for him, because it was postmarked Jan. 28, the day of the launch.

The 41-page document centered on Jarvis’ work at Hughes, which had selected him for astronaut training from 600 employee applicants. Hughes manufactures satellites for the space program.

In his thesis, Jarvis applied to Hughes’ operations some of the principles outlined in the best-selling book, “In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies,” by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr.

The next-to-last paragraph of the thesis was especially ironic, Oglesby said. It read: “At (Hughes), the overriding principle is technical excellence. Cost and schedule are important . . . but it is a cardinal sin to have something fail in orbit.”