For the past 20 years, Steven Singletary '99 MS, gained experience as a skydiver, skydiving instructor and senior parachute rigger. As a rigger, he learned the ins and outs of maintaining and repairing parachutes. Singletary understands the physics behind parachutes and gained the attention of the U.N. World Food Program, which used his techniques to earn the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for lifesaving food drops to South Sudan.

Singletary was responsible for developing, designing and testing parachutes used to the make the airdrops. The U.N.’s World Food Program is geared toward delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience in countries in need. In 2019, it assisted 97 million people in 88 countries.

In an interview with The Robesonian, Singletary said, “Who knew that my love for throwing stuff out of an airplane, including myself, have meant so many people have eaten? It was really rewarding.”

After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Singletary earned a degree in math and computer science from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He also earned a master’s degree in geology from TCU and a doctorate in geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, he teaches physics at UNCP.