BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - At an event with NASA officials and space industry leaders at Johnson Space Center in March, Gov. Greg Abbott urged Texas universities to consider establishing degree offerings in Space Engineering to help Americans get to the moon and Mars in the coming years. Texas A&M University is heeding that call.

Texas A&M appointed Dr. Robert H. Bishop to be the next Vice-Chancellor For Engineering And Dean of the College Of Engineering in February.

Bishop’s official start date was Tuesday, April 2, but even before then, he announced one of his first orders of business was to help make Texas A&M a world leader in Space Engineering.

The class of ‘79 Aggie graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

“I have been involved in space, both as a student and as a researcher,” explained Bishop. “I’m still involved in various aspects of space, not just NASA, but also including the DOD (Department of Defense).”

Bishop says A&M has been involved at the forefront of space for a long time, offering degrees in fields like Aerospace Engineering.

“Most of our work to date has been what I would call more aerospace. And what does that mean? That means, how do you build the rockets? How do you build the satellites? How do you get to the moon? How do you get to Mars? How do you land there? Space engineering, that’s different. Space engineering is much more multidisciplinary. It is not how do you get to the moon? It’s how do you live on the moon? It’s how do you grow food on the moon? How do you build and construct on the moon? So it’s very broad. A lot of aerospace engineering is still part of that, but it also will include a wide range of disciplines,” said Bishop.

He says the first step for the new degree program is putting together a faculty committee, then they will start looking at the curriculum. Bishop says if everything works out right, the program will be offered by fall 2025.

“It is our mission to educate the next generation of problem solvers, not just for space, but also for all the challenges that we face [around] the globe.”

Watch KBTX’s full interview with Bishop in the player above.