COL William L. Koch.Ph.D.

COL Will Koch is an academy professor and space science program director in the Department of Physics & Nuclear Engineering (PaNE) at the United States Military Academy (USMA). 

He graduated from USMA in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in physics. He commissioned in the Aviation branch and served as a platoon leader in the 3rd Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry Regiment during the surge in Baghdad, Iraq. He later served as company commander in the 1st Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry Regiment, during Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.

Following his commands, COL Koch earned a master’s degree in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2013. He taught at PaNE from 2013–16. After his junior faculty time, he spent two years working in NASA’s Astronaut Office, focusing on the SpaceX Commercial Crew Program. He was the prime stakeholder for many of the crew–vehicle interface requirements on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. 

COL Koch then earned his doctorate in nuclear science and engineering from MIT before returning to USMA as an academy professor.

He is married to the former Vanessa Kurtiak of Flint, Michigan. They have two children and one poorly behaved cat.