From the fields to the stars: Astronaut Jose Hernandez to inspire as Viva Fresh keynote speaker

NASA astronaut, engineer and entrepreneur Jose Hernandez will be the keynote speaker at the 10th annual Viva Fresh Produce Expo, April 10-12 at the Marriott Marquis in Houston.

Hernandez’s journey — from migrant farmworker to astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery — is a powerful testament to perseverance, innovation and breaking barriers, according to the Texas International Produce Association. His story is a powerful reminder that dedication and vision can transform ambitious dreams into reality — an inspiration to an industry that feeds the world through relentless hard work and innovation.

“As we celebrate a decade of Viva Fresh, we’re honored to welcome someone who in part is one of us,” said Dante Galeazzi, CEO and president of TIPA. “Jose Hernandez’s journey reflects the determination and resilience that drive our industry every day. We know his keynote will inspire our attendees to think bigger and push forward, no matter the challenges.”

A former NASA mission specialist and engineer, Hernandez is now president and CEO of Tierra Luna Engineering LLC, and a University of California regent. His life was recently featured in the 2023 biographical film “A Million Miles Away,” further cementing his legacy as an inspiration for future generations, TIPA says.

Hernandez worked at NASA's Johnson Space Center from 2001 to 2011, where he was an astronaut, legislative analyst, branch chief and materials research engineer.

He holds a master's degree in signals and systems engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific and has been bestowed with eight doctorates, honoris causa.

Hernandez says he wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic American had been chosen to travel into space.

"I was hoeing a row of sugar beets in a field near Stockton, Calif., and I heard on my transistor radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps," says Hernandez, who was a senior in high school at the time. "I was already interested in science and engineering, but that was the moment I said, 'I want to fly in space.' And that's something I've been striving for each day since then."

One of four children in a migrant farming family from Mexico, Hernandez — who didn't learn English until he was 12 years old — spent much of his childhood on what he calls "the California circuit," traveling with his family from Mexico to Southern California each March, then working northward to the Stockton area by November, picking strawberries and cucumbers at farms along the route. Then they would return to Mexico for Christmas and start the cycle all over again come spring.

"Some kids might think it would be fun to travel like that, but we had to work. It wasn't a vacation," Hernandez says.

After graduating high school in Stockton, Hernandez enrolled at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering and was awarded a full scholarship to the graduate program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he continued his engineering studies. In 1987, he accepted a full-time job with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he had worked as a co-op in college.

During the astronaut application process, Hernandez had to meet with a review board. That's where he came face-to-face with his original inspiration: Franklin Chang-Diaz.

"It was a strange place to find myself, being evaluated by the person who gave me the motivation to get there in the first place," Hernandez says. "But I found that we actually had common experiences — a similar upbringing, the same language issues. That built up my confidence. Any barriers that existed, he had already hurdled them."

Hernandez says that's when he realized: "Now it's my turn."