Scobee was born on May 19, 1939. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1957 and was stationed at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. He was accepted as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1978. He was pilot on the STS 41-C in 1984, logging a total of 168 hours in space during the mission. He then served as spacecraft commander of the Orbiter Challenger, which exploded during launch from the Kennedy Space Center on January 28, 1986.
Scobee was chosen as the school's namesake not only because he was a hero who challenged us to "reach for the stars," but also because of his personal ties to San Antonio.