Prof. Missy Cummings on The Colbert Report by Matt McGann '00

Last night, MIT Aero/Astro professor Missy Cummings was the guest on The Colbert Report.

Professor Cummings was one of the US Navy’s first female fighter pilots. She flew the F/A-18 Hornet. At MIT, she is the Director of the Humans and Automation Lab, which hosts many Aero/Astro UROPs.

A crucial note for overseas readers and others unfamiliar with The Colbert Report: it’s important to understand the context of the program and the character. Wikipedia says of the program:

The Colbert Report (pronounced kohl-bair rə-por – the t is silent in both “Colbert” and “Report”) is an American satirical late night television program that airs Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. It stars political humorist Stephen Colbert, a former correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Colbert Report is a spin-off from and counterpart to The Daily Show that comments on politics and the media in a similar way. It satirizes conservative personality-driven political pundit programs, particularly Fox News’s The O’Reilly Factor. The show focuses on a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake. The character, described by Colbert as a “well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot,” is a caricature of televised political pundits.

Here’s the video:

Previously: Prof. Junot Diaz on the Colbert Report