Terry Virts has enjoyed a successful career in the field of space and aviation, famed for his roles as an International Space Station Commander and his time as an astronaut for NASA. Also a former Colonel in the United States Air Force, Terry has collected an impressive number of air miles and claimed the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal and the Aerial Achievement Medal during his time in service. Since retiring from the sky's, Terry is following opportunities as a speaker for a range of corporate events, sharing anecdotes of his time in space and topics such as how fragile our planet is.
Terry first found his love for all things aviation during education, graduating from both the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the US Air Force Academy. Terry’s first embark into space happened in 2010, making his first spaceflight as the pilot of mission STS-130. This voyage was the first of many, later going on to visit space on the Russian Soyuz TMA-15M in 2014. After these voyages, Terry was given the honour of commanding the International Space Station when acting as the Commander of Expedition 43. Terry’s love for space is extremely evident, impressively spending more than seven months in space.
When he's back on Earth Terry frequently travels the world, filling audiences with tales of his time spent in space. He uses his experiences collected throughout his career to provide a unique perspective on a range of diverse topics. He delivers unique perspectives to businesses on crisis and risk management, strategy, vision, decision making and innovation. Alongside his speeches, Terry is also involved in a number of television and film projects as well as serving on a number of corporate boards.
Terry was the director of One More Orbit, his first film which documented his Guinness World Record-breaking mission, completed in 2019. Terry was also co-author of the collector’s edition reproduction of the flight plan used on the first mission to the moon, titled Apo110: To The Moon And Back. Terry frequently took pictures of Earth from space on his missions, ultimately taking over 300,000 photographs. Terry’s photography skills became an integral part of the IMAX film A Beautiful Planet, with the stunning footage of the film being shot by Terry himself. His photography has also been featured in the National Geographic book titled View From Above. Most recently Terry has starred on The Joe Rogan Experience, an audio and video podcast, and published his book How To Astronaut: An Insider's Guide to Leaving Planet Earth.
Now following opportunities as a keynote and corporate event speaker, Terry has already delivered a series of National Geographic Live talks. He travels the globe entertaining audiences with his charming personality, fascinating stories from space, breathtaking photography and various tales of wisdom. Available to deliver keynote addresses worldwide, Terry is the perfect candidate for your next event and covers topics such as our beautiful planet and its fragile environment, how to build, motivate, and lead an intercultural team and fascinating perspectives on global wealth and wellbeing.
How to hire Terry W. Virts
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Terry W. Virts for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
When at corporate events, Terry is known to cover the following topics:
- Our beautiful planet and its fragile environment
- Why your organization needs to innovate like the Apollo program
- How to build, motivate, and lead an intercultural team
- The necessity of vision and strategy
- Why you can’t succeed without debriefing and feedback
- Fascinating perspectives on global wealth and wellbeing
- Risk and Crisis management in space, the cockpit of an F-16, or at work
"Terry truly gave an inspiring speech, which motivated our team to see the bigger picture. With fascinating stories and lessons learned especially concerning intercultural leadership he gives an impressive insight for a pan-European company like ours" - Christian, WALTER Group- Member of the Management Board
"Terry is a regular guest lecturer at Harvard Business School and always a highlight for our participants- he combines fascinating stories, dynamic connection with his audience, and unique perspectives on leadership as well as life on earth" - Dr. Sunil, Harvard Business School Professor and Chair of General Management Program
"Terry's talk inspired us, educated us and sparked our curiosity -- not just for space, but for humanity as a whole. He made us laugh, he made us think, and he made us consider new aspects of science and medicine. And his beautiful photographs just wowed us all! A wonderful presentation" - Dr. Tom, Chair, The Ohio State University Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science
"Top Nat Geo Live! Speaker of 2017-18" - National Geographic
"Terry's enlightening presentation at our company´s 150th anniversary was inspiring and in its truest sense of word eye opening. Terry shared personal stories from his spaceflight, presented fascinating views from above and extensive insights into global wealth and environment. Terry won our hearts and brains" - Mag. Silvio, CEO Umdasch Store Makers
