Feisty Female Friday: Mae Jemison
The FFF this week is Mae Jemison.
Mae was born in AL but then moved to IL. Her parents valued education and as soon as she learned to read, she checked out science books from the library, reading about evolution, dinosaurs, stars and planets.
When she was eight years old her mother signed her up for beginner ballet which started her life-long love of dance. Excelling in science during elementary school, Mae created projects focusing on the evolution of life on planet Earth and astronomy. She also excelled in her HS science classes, participated in musical theater, was always on the honor roll, and graduated when she was 16. Mae attended Stanford, choreographed her performing arts production classes, acted in plays and musicals, and studied Swahili. She graduated with degrees in Chemical Engineering and African American studies and attended Cornell Medical School where she worked in Cuba, Cambodia, Thailand, and Kenya through the AMREF Foundation.
Mae joined the Peace Corps where she served as a medical officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia. She was responsible for the health of all US Peace Corps volunteers and staff members and managed a medical office, a lab, the pharmacy, and volunteer health training programs.
She applied to NASA and was one of the fifteen people chosen for NASA Astronaut Group 12 out of over 2,000 applications. Mae served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle, Endeavor, and rocketed into space becoming the first African American woman in space. While in orbit, Mae conducted forty-four different experiments in the microgravity environment in Spacelab J. With her on her spaceflight, Jemison carried a picture of aviator Bessie Coleman.
Mae appeared in many popular magazines and launched the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, sponsors The Earth We Share, an international science camp, and taught technology and its benefits for developing countries. Her consulting company, Jemison Group Inc., has focused on combining space and technology to improve daily life on earth. Her 100 Year Starship initiative is committed to human interstellar travel beyond our solar system. She also serves on the Board of Directors for many organizations to ensure that all of us know that we have a place in this world and are responsible to always live up to our individual potential and ambitions. In her book Mae remembered that she always knew she’d be in space, looking down and all around, seeing the Earth, the moon, and the stars.
Mae was the first real astronaut to appear on Star Trek, lives in TX, has two siblings, and was inspired by Lt. Uhura and Sally Ride. She stands by her principles, that everyone should benefit from the bounty of this planet and its resources. She encourages and inspires learners of all ages to reach for the stars in all they do in their lives.