Dr. Mae Carol Jemison
Dr. Mae Carol Jemison October 17, 1956
Dr. Mae Carol Jemison is the first African-American woman in space. Dr. Jemison was a crew member aboard the space shuttle Endeavour which reached orbit in 1992. As her title indicates, Dr. Jemison has devoted her time to more endeavors outside of her duties as an astronaut. She is an astronaut, a medical doctor, a teacher, a Peace Corps volunteer, and founder/president of two tech companies. Her philanthropy and scholarship should influence aspiring scientists and doctors of color for generations.
Jemison is originally from Decatur, Alabama. As the child of an educator and scientist, her curiosity for the unknown was sparked at a young age. She graduated from Morgan Park High School early, before attending Stanford University at the age of 16. Jemison earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor’s of Arts in African and African-American Studies from Stanford. She later earned her doctorate in medicine from Cornell University.
“On Sept. 12, 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African American woman in space when the space shuttle Endeavour carried her and six other astronauts on 126 orbits around the Earth. A mission specialist, Jemison was a co-investigator of two bone cell research experiments, one of 43 investigations that were done on mission STS-47. The shuttle landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 20th. Over the course of her only off-planet voyage, Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds in space.” – Excerpt from Space.com
Dr. Jemison’s post NASA life was entrepreneurial and academic. She founded The Jemison Group and was a professor at the prestigious Ivy League institution, Dartmouth University.
