Michael Phillip Anderson was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Anderson and his six fellow crew members were killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the craft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Anderson served as the payload commander and lieutenant colonel in charge of science experiments on the Columbia. Anderson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Creighton University is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergraduate students on a 140-acre (57 ha) campus just outside of downtown Omaha. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". It comprises nine undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools and colleges, including a law school, medical school, dental school, pharmacy school, nursing school, and business school. The university operates the Creighton University Medical Center. It has a second campus focused on health sciences located in Phoenix, Arizona.