Iowa State welcomed the first Latina director of NASA Mission Control in a lecture Monday at the Memorial Union. Ginger Kerrick, a 30-year veteran of the Johnson Space Center, shared her journey to inspire others who are reaching for the stars. “I remember standing in front of my dad’s office, and he was in his chair, and he was rocking back and forth. In high school, Kerrick would face one of the first instances of discrimination blocking her path. “Just hearing her leadership perspectives, especially like turning bad into good, is really the biggest thing I took away from it.