Thomas Dale Akers (born May 20, 1951) is a former American astronaut in NASA's Space Shuttle program.

He worked summers as a park ranger in the 80,000 acre federal wilderness that borders Eminence.

[1] At the age of 24, he returned to Eminence to become its math teacher, and subsequently its high school principal.

[3] In 1979, when a United States Air Force recruiter left brochures on his desk for his students, it was Akers who decided to sign up.

As part of his training with NASA, Akers taught science classes at Troy State University for a brief period of time.

[6] He was instrumental in deploying the European Space Agency satellite Ulysses,[3] a solar-exploration craft, as well as tending several secondary payloads and experiments.

[17] Akers made a cameo appearance on the TV show Home Improvement by Touchstone Television.