Alumni

William “Bill” Weppner, BS ’59, is an educator, veteran and former NASA flight controller whose career spans engineering, military service and higher education.

After earning his electrical engineering degree from UB he commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and then earned a master’s from the University of Oklahoma. His expertise took him to NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston, where he served as a flight controller for Apollo missions 7 through 13, including the historic Apollo 11 moon landing. He retired from the Air Force in 1980 as a major.

Since 1988, Weppner has taught mathematics at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Later promoted to full-time faculty, he served on key committees and mentored countless students. At UB, he established the Paul E. Mohn Scholarship to support undergraduates, especially Native American students, and in 2024 endowed the John Lesinski Experiential Learning Fund. He is also a recipient of the American Association of Community Colleges’ Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty Award.