Lt. Col. Diana Loucks ’96 of the 4th Infantry Division in Kandahar, Afghanistan, has been chief of space and special programs for Regional Command (South) since June 2013.

But before long, she’ll be a pioneer at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Loucks has been asked to join the faculty at West Point in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering. She would be the first female professor in the history of that department.

Following her tour in Afghanistan, Loucks must earn a doctorate before she starts her new job. She plans to pursue Ph.D. work in aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she earned a master’s degree in 2008.

Then she will be installed as an academy professor in 2017 and is scheduled to teach there for the duration of her Army career.

Previously, Loucks taught physics at West Point in 2008 and hopes to mentor students and help them develop their careers from the outset.

“It’s not just teaching them, it’s shaping their future as Army leaders,” she said through the U.S. Army public relations office. “You have an opportunity to shape how they think and feel about their role as leaders in the Army. To be able to influence that is really what I’d like to do.”

Read more on Loucks:
http://www.dvidshub.net/news/122361/opportunity-lifetime-awaits-army-officer-upon-return-hom#.UzCDwF7AkpR

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