FORT COLLINS - Woodward Governor Co. (Nasdaq: WGOV) on Friday announced a gift of $1 million to Colorado State University to launch a new systems-engineering program and hire a high-powered professor, formerly a NASA astronaut, to head it.

The grant from the Woodward Charitable Trust establishes an endowed professorship in the College of Engineering, and has enabled CSU to hire former astronaut and U.S. undersecretary of the Air Force Ronald Sega to occupy the position.

The systems-engineering program that will develop at CSU under Sega's leadership will fill a critical need for specialized training that would benefit the community beyond the campus, Woodward President and CEO Tom Gendron said.

"The most complex engineering problems require critical thinking at a systems level," Gendron said. "However, there are relatively few systems-engineering programs in the U.S. With this endowment, Woodward has the unique opportunity to collaborate with CSU to develop a strategic systems-engineering program that will serve the region and the nation."

In addition to his new post as Woodward professor in systems engineering, Sega will also serve as vice president for applied research for the CSU Research Foundation.

CSU President Larry Penley said the Woodward grant represents another step toward closer ties between the university and private industry.

"This gift is an example of a university/industry partnership that benefits students, employers and the state," Penley said. "We are grateful for Woodward's strong support of systems engineering and the university's educational mission, which will help us develop a program that meets regional needs."

Since his graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1974, Sega has pursued a varied career as a pilot, astronaut, engineer, scholar and public servant. In his NASA days from 1991 to 1996, Sega logged more than 420 hours in space aboard two space shuttle missions, including the first United States-Russia joint space shuttle venture in 1994 aboard the shuttle Discovery. He later served as NASA's top official at the Russian spaceport known as Star City.

Sega earned a master's degree in physics at Ohio State University and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado. His academic career, before and after his tenure with NASA, included a professorship at the U.S. Air Force Academy and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, where he also served as dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

He also served in senior U.S. Defense Department posts, including director of defense research and engineering and, most recently, as U.S. Air Force undersecretary.