Recognizing a Remarkable Woman and Remarkable Research

After four years as head of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University, Dr. Ivett Leyva, P.E., is stepping into a new role as associate dean of research at Texas A&M-Fort Worth. Her journey to becoming a leader in hypersonics began with the love and encouragement from her mother, Juana Reyna. When Levya was 16, her mother became disabled. Even in the midst of this great upset to their lives, her mother insisted Leyva leave Mexico to pursue a scholarship and her dream of becoming a scientist in the U.S.

Years later, with advanced degrees and a distinguished career behind her, Leyva established the Juana Reyna Endowed Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award in the College of Engineering in honor of her mother’s resilience and sacrifice.

“This is how I tell my mom that I love her, and how I tell the College of Engineering that I am grateful to be a part of it,” Leyva said.

Reyna’s character and resilience have always stood out. From growing up in poverty to raising her daughter as a single parent, she faced life’s challenges with strength and dignity. Professionally, she rose from an administrative assistant to a leadership position in an insurance company. While she was no longer able to work after becoming disabled, her support and love for her daughter never wavered.

“I was 17, and despite her being so sick, my mother still said, ‘This is your life, it’s not my life. You have all the right to seek a better future for yourself, and you should go and educate yourself and be the best you can be’,’” Leyva said. 

With her mother’s blessing, Leyva followed her dreams and set out for an education in aerospace. Reyna’s character continues to inspire Leyva and shapes her life and career. Before coming to Texas A&M in 2021, Leyva worked for 15 years at the Air Force Research Lab and the Pentagon, where she developed an appreciation and respect for the work of our military. During her time there, she realized the significance of serving our military through science and technology.

“These are the people who are willing to die in pursuit of the ideals our country is built upon,” Leyva said. “To work alongside them and to work to make sure that we are never in a fair fight, is a deep privilege and honor that I wish everybody had at some point in their lives.”

In 2021, Leyva became the department head and a professor at Texas A&M in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. She will continue her work in higher education at Texas A&M-Fort Worth. For her, education is more than a profession – it’s a calling.

“It’s an honor to guide young minds and to seek a better understanding of nature, in my case, hypersonic fluid dynamics,” she said.

As department head, Leyva led with devotion to both faculty and staff as well as students. Under her leadership, the department was endowed with fellowships and professorships, climbed national research rankings and research expenditures, created a strategic vision, and cultivated a strong sense of community among faculty, staff and students.

“They all have different needs, but I’ve given all I have to support the great performance that we have here in the Department of Aerospace Engineering,” Leyva said.

Leyva believes that the time near graduation is critical for Ph.D. students. This is the time in their careers when their research begins to define who they are as scholars and changemakers. 

“Getting an award at this time is a big endorsement that they are a person who can push science’s boundaries,” Leyva said. “Science can change engineering, and students can use engineering to better the world; I think that's worth celebrating.”

Leyva emphasized the importance of having an educational system that allows students to push the boundaries of knowledge and to own a small piece of discovery and advancement.

“It kind of becomes addictive when you get your first answer from nature. You want to keep asking questions,” Leyva said. “I think it is very important to recognize the achievements of a doctoral dissertation because it’s a huge deal to prove that you have actually moved knowledge. You invented, you discovered, you improved, you advanced.”

The Juana Reyna Endowed Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award is designed to celebrate that pursuit and to honor the spirit of the woman who made Leyva’s own journey possible. Through this award, Juana Reyna’s strength, determination and love will continue to inspire future generations of scholars who are changing the world, one discovery at a time.