•Vanguard Award •

Education:
-Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) — University of Saint Thomas (Houston)
-B.A. in Public Administration — University of Houston–Clear Lake
-A.A. in Business Administration — San Jacinto Junior College

For more than 26 years, Guadalupe “Lupita” M. Armendariz stood at the forefront of NASA’s educational outreach, championing efforts to engage K-12 students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Long before such engagement became a hallmark of the agency, let alone as ubiquitous in America as it is now, Lupita pursued partnerships and programs that opened NASA’s doors to young learners, ensuring that students previously left on the margins didn’t just admire America’s space program from afar, but fully engaged with it. 

Lupita began her NASA career in 1980 at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, quickly advancing from the Financial Management Division to her promotion as the Hispanic Employment Program Manager. In this role, she forged partnerships with Houston-area schools and universities, laying the groundwork for numerous programs including mentoring and tutoring programs that directly addressed dropout rates among Latino students. 

Later, as Program Manager for the Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP), she managed millions of dollars in research grants to Hispanic Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. Alongside direct research support, Lupita ensured MUREP included K-12 initiatives, summer bridge programs at universities, and Career & Education Days at national conferences, including GMiS. She was instrumental in the early development of GMiS’s “Viva Technology” program, which brings real world engineers and near-peer college students majoring in STEM degrees to middle and high school campuses to engage with students in a series of hands-on activities and challenges. These initiatives brought astronauts, engineers, and scientists into direct dialogue with middle and high school students, planting seeds of ambition in thousands of young minds.

Lupita also spearheaded JSC’s involvement as a founding sponsor of the GMiS College Bowl Competition and helped foster numerous opportunities for students to interact with other NASA Centers and NASA Headquarters through this program.   She engaged with many non-profit organization leaders to help them fortify their partnerships with NASA, and she took the time to cultivate relationships and partnerships by attending annual national conferences and making sure NASA Latino engineers, scientists, and sub-contractors were recognized internally and externally.  Many previous HENAAC, SHPE and MAES award winners from NASA had their nomination packets organized and put together by Lupita and her team, something that continued long after she left NASA.

Even after retiring from our nation’s space program in 2006, Lupita’s commitment to education never slowed, as she continued to serve as a consultant, grant administrator, presenter, and mentor many local and national organizations. A supervisor once told her she was, “spreading seeds all over the U.S. without ever seeing the flowers bloom.” Years later, she did see many of them bloom, as college students and young professionals consistently approached her at conferences to share how her programs had inspired their STEM careers.

Born in San Benito, Texas, Lupita grew up in a family that valued education despite her parents’ limited formal schooling. She credits her husband, Romeo, her children, and her faith community for the support that allowed her to balance family, studies, and a demanding career. She has inspired countless young people, many the first in their families to consider STEM careers, to believe that they, too, could join America’s journey to the stars.