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Colonel Randel J. Gordon will be the keynote speaker for the 29th annual Black History Month Celebration at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI). The celebration will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at the UTSI campus in Tullahoma with a reception to follow. This event is free and open to the public. If questions about the event, please contact the UTSI HR office at 931-393-7226.

Gordon is Commander of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) at the Arnold Air Force Base headquartered in Tennessee.

He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, and received his commission in 1998 from the United States Air Force Academy. Prior to this, he was the initial cadre director for the Secretary of the Air Force’s Artificial Intelligence Accelerator with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Gordon also served as initial cadre for the Secretary of the Air Force’s AFWERX technology innovation team with private sector business and academia. He is a Harvard Business School alumnus and holds several other degrees including a doctorate from the US Airforce’s School of Advanced Air and Space studies.

During his career, Gordon has received numerous awards and recognitions including a Defense Meritorious Service Medal, National Service Medal, Presidential Fellow, Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency Fellow, and MIT Fellow.