Chisholm Catholic College alumnus Enrico Palermo has earlier this month (on 15 January) been appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Virgin Galactic Holdings, a company founded by entrepreneur Richard Branson.
The Bedford-based co-educational secondary school recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, which provided the opportunity for the College to “to reflect on from its growing facilities to its broadening community engagement and of course the growth and success of its very own students past and present”.
The College also has the opportunity to proudly welcome back Mr Palermo, who is part of the class of 1996, and his wife, Nadia Palermo, who was also in the same year group.
The College’s Head of Science Paul Shanahan – Mr Palermo’s former physics teacher – had the opportunity to interview Mr Palermo during his visit and learn more about his life journey since leaving the College.
Mr Palermo was a Head Boy when at Chisholm and recipient of the Community Service Principal’s Medallion.
Mr Palermo excelled academically, was a runner-up and the recipient of the Western Australian Certificate of Distinction in Chemistry and Certificate of Excellence in Year 12.
Mr Palermo also spoke sincerely about how the College gave him the tools to apply what he learnt into the real world and form the whole person, which carried through to his studies at the University of Western Australia, which allowed him to graduate with Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering and Bachelor of Science in physics and applied mathematics.
He married his childhood sweetheart and moved his family from Perth to London, England, and then onto France.
After receiving a scholarship from the European Space Agency, Mr Palermo further his studies at the International Space University in Strasburg, France and completed the university’s intensive Space Studies Programme.
Mr Palermo now resides in Mojave, pursuing “his lifelong ambition and dream of making human spaceflight more accessible to all”.
In addition to his position as COO at Virgin Galactic, Mr Palermo is also the President for The Spaceship Company (TSC).
He joined Virgin Galactic in 2006 and was TSC’s first employee, who also “led TSC’s establishment from a business plan concept to a thriving development and manufacturing operation based in Mojave, California – the first dedicated engineering, manufacturing and flight test enterprise in Virgin Group”.
Upon his appointment as COO, Mr Palermo said that he is “honoured to accept” the role and “continue to serve” Virgin Galactic team, and is also truly inspired to what TSC has achieved thus far.
“Taking on this new position at an exciting point in the company’s history is incredibly important to me and I look forward to making human spaceflight more accessible to all,” Mr Palermo added.
Mr Palermo encouraged current students to make their dreams take flight, which was something he learnt from taking risks, accepting change and following his passion until it became a reality.
A Chisholm spokesperson said Mr Palermo’s story was one of passion, dedication, and persistence.