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Mae Jemison
Origin: Decatur, Alabama
(17 October 1956)
Heroic Values: Achievement, Caring, Selflessness, Tolerance, Vision, Wisdom
Background
Mae Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama in 1956, but spent her childhood in Chicago, Illinois. From a young age she exhibited immense talent in both the sciences and the arts, and at age sixteen she entered Stanford University on scholarship. Here she earned her BS in Chemical Engineering, while also fulfilling the requirements of a BA in African and Afro-American Studies. She then went on to attend Cornell Medical College, where she earned her Doctorate of Medicine in 1981 at twenty-five years of age.After earning her doctorate, Jemison spent time traveling and practicing medicine in Cuba, rural Kenya, and finally accepting a medical clerkship in Thailand at a Cambodian refugee camp. Her commitment to service continued from 1983-1985 when she served as an Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia in Western Africa. In this position she supervised Peace Corps volunteers, wrote health practice manuals, and wrote guidelines for health practices in these developing nations. When she returned to the United States she worked as a General Practitioner in Los Angeles before joining NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1987.
Jemison began her work at NASA doing launch support at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and later became a Science Mission Specialist for the STS-47 cooperative mission between Japan and the US. She was co-investigator for bone cell research on this mission, looking at what makes bones become weaker during space flight. Her mission, September 12-20, 1992, led Jemison to become the first African American woman to travel to space.
Through her work and volunteering efforts, Jemison devoted herself to developing and researching technologies that were specifically designed for the social, political, and economic needs of individuals and the developing world, believing that scientists have an obligation to consider and be active in social issues. This desire to develop technologies for the developing world led her to resign from NASA in 1993. Jemison also divided her passion between science and the arts. As an accomplished dancer, Jemison found science and the arts to be two halves of a unified creative force, and she refused to limit herself to one area of expertise. Instead, by example, she demonstrated the importance of pursuing one's goals in whatever area they may be passionate.
Since NASA, Jemison has devoted her work to encouraging women and minorities to pursue careers in science and technology, believing that all races, ethnicities, genders, and social classes should be represented in the scientific community. She founded The Jemison Group, Inc, in Houston, Texas to fund and promote this type of socially active research. Her current projects include Alpha TM, a satellite based telecommunication system to improve health care in West Africa, and The Earth We Share, an international science camp for students aged 12-16. She is also a member of the Dartmouth faculty (she taught a Space Age Technology and Developing Countries course in 1993), and she currently teaches in the Environmental Studies Program. She is the Director of The Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries at Dartmouth, and works to research and develop technologies for the benefit of less industrialized nations.
In 1992 she was honored by the establishment of the Mae C. Jemison Academy in Detroit, an alternative public school.
Jemison's charity work continues (in 2007 at New York Fashion Week she participated in the Red Dress Heart Truth to raise money to prevent heart disease). She has been honored with numerous Honorary Doctorates, awards, publications and distinctions on film.
Submitted By: Karen Langdon
Sources
Wikipedia
The online encyclopedia
NASA
Astronaut bio page
National Women's Hall of Fame
Jemison's biography page