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Julius Montgomery, who broke barriers as the first black man in the U.S. space program, has died at the age of 90. The pioneer’s death, announced Friday by his family, comes a week after he was honored by the Florida Institute of Technology with an honorary doctorate. “It was such an honor for him,” says his daughter, Gaye Montgomery. “A shining example that progress has been made.” Montgomery always had an eye to the sky, building model airplanes from scratch when he was a teen. After working in the blossoming space industry, he went on to serve on the Melbourne City Council. Florida Tech previously honored Montgomery by naming its Pioneer Award after him. “Florida Tech is a better institution because of this brave and compassionate man, whose impact, thankfully, went well beyond our campus,” Florida Tech President Dwayne McCay says.
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