Mae Jemison

Mae Carol Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama, on October 17, 1956, the youngest of three children of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy Jemison (). Her father was a maintenance supervisor for a charity organization, and her mother worked most of her career as an elementary school teacher of English and math at the Ludwig van Beethoven Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois. The family first lived in the Woodlawn and later the Morgan Park neighborhoods. Jemison knew from a young age that she wanted to study science and someday go into space. The television show Star Trek and, in particular, African-American actress Nichelle Nichols' portrayal of Lieutenant Uhura further stoked her interest in space. Jemison enjoyed studying nature and human physiology, using her observations to learn more about science. Although her mother encouraged her curiosity When Jemison told a kindergarten teacher she wanted to be a scientist when she grew up, the teacher assumed she meant she wanted to be a nurse. Jemison had a great love for dance from a young age. She learned several styles of dance, including African and Japanese, as well as ballet, jazz, and modern dance. As a child, Jemison had aspirations of becoming a professional dancer. At the age of 14, she auditioned for the leading role of Maria in West Side Story. She did not get the leading role but was selected as a background dancer. After graduating from Chicago's Morgan Park High School in 1973, Jemison entered Stanford University at the age of 16. In an interview with The Des Moines Register in 2008, Jemison said that it was difficult to go to Stanford at 16 but that her youthful arrogance may have helped her; she asserted that some arrogance is necessary for women and minorities to be successful in a white male dominated society. During her senior year in college, she struggled with the choice between going to medical school or pursuing a career as a professional dancer after graduation; she graduated from Stanford in 1977, receiving a B.S. degree in chemical engineering While at Stanford, she also pursued studies related to her childhood interest in space and first considered applying to NASA. == Medical career ==

Jemison attended Cornell Medical School and, during her training, traveled to Cuba to conduct a study funded by the American Medical Student Association and to Thailand, where she worked at a Cambodian refugee camp. == NASA career ==

in 1992 Upon returning to the United States after serving in the Peace Corps, Jemison settled in Los Angeles, California. In Los Angeles, she entered into private practice and took graduate-level engineering courses. Inspired by the flights of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford in 1983, Jemison applied to the astronaut program in October 1985. CBS featured Jemison as one of the country's "most eligible singles" on Best Catches, a television special hosted by Phylicia Rashad and Robb Weller in 1989. Jemison's work with NASA before her shuttle launch included launch support activities at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and verification of Shuttle computer software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). On September 28, 1989, she was selected to join the STS-47 crew as Mission Specialist 4 and was also designated Science Mission Specialist, a new astronaut role being tested by NASA to focus on scientific experiments. STS-47 Jemison flew her only space mission from September 12 to 20, 1992, as one of the seven-member crew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space and orbited the earth 127 times. The crew was split into two shifts with Jemison assigned to the Blue Shift. Throughout the eight-day mission, she began communications on her shift with the salute "Hailing frequencies open", a quote from Star Trek. Jemison took a poster from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater along with her on the flight. She also took a West African statuette a technique developed by Patricia S. Cowings that uses biofeedback and autogenic training to help patients monitor and control their physiology as a possible treatment for motion sickness, anxiety and stress-related disorders. Aboard the Spacelab Japan module, Jemison tested NASA's Fluid Therapy System, a set of procedures and equipment to produce water for injection, developed by Sterimatics Corporation. She then used IV bags and a mixing method, developed by Baxter Healthcare, to use the water from the previous step to produce saline solution in space. Jemison was also a co-investigator of two bone cell research experiments. Resignation from NASA Jemison resigned from NASA in March 1993 to start a company. NASA training manager and author Homer Hickam, who had trained Jemison for her flight, later expressed some regret that she had departed. == Post-NASA career ==

Jemison served on the board of directors of the World Sickle Cell Foundation from 1990 to 1992. Jemison also founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, naming it in honor of her mother. One of the projects of the foundation is The Earth We Share, a science camp for students aged 12 to 16. Founded in 1994, camps have been held at Dartmouth College, Colorado School of Mines, Choate Rosemary Hall, and other sites in the United States, Jemison stated that the goal of these four-week long, residential programs is to increase scientific literacy by developing the students’ abilities in both critical thinking and problem solving. Students accomplish this by working in teams and using the scientific method to identify and solve a real problem facing their communities. The Dorothy Jemison Foundation also sponsors other events and programs, including the Shaping the World essay competition, Listening to the Future (a survey program that targets obtaining opinions from students), Earth Online (an online chatroom that allows students to safely communicate and discuss ideas on space and science), and the Reality Leads Fantasy Gala. Jemison was a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College from 1995 to 2002 where she directed the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries. In 1999, she also became an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Jemison continues to advocate strongly in favor of science education and getting minority students interested in science. She is a member of various scientific organizations, such as the American Medical Association, the American Chemical Society, the Association of Space Explorers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1999, Jemison founded BioSentient Corp and obtained the license to commercialize AFTE, the technique she and Mohri tested on themselves during STS-47. In 2018, she collaborated with Bayer Crop Science and the National 4-H Council for the initiative named Science Matters, which was aimed at encouraging young children to understand and pursue agricultural sciences. == Books ==

Jemison's first book, Find Where the Wind Goes (2001), is a memoir of her life written for children. She describes her childhood, her time at Stanford, in the Peace Corps, and as an astronaut. School Library Journal found the stories about her earlier life to be the most appealing. Her A True Book series of four children's books published in 2013 is co-authored with Dana Meachen Rau. Each book in the series has a "Find the Truth" challenge, true or false questions answers to which are revealed at the end of the story. == Public profile ==

LeVar Burton learned that Jemison was an avid Star Trek fan and asked her if she would be interested in being on the show. In 1993, Jemison appeared as Lieutenant Palmer in "Second Chances", an episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, becoming the first real-life astronaut to appear on Star Trek. From 1999 to 2005, Jemison was appointed an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Jemison is an active public speaker who appears before private and public groups promoting science and technology. "Having been an astronaut gives me a platform," says Jemison, "but I'd blow it if I just talked about the Shuttle." Jemison uses her platform to speak out on the gap in the quality of health-care between the United States and the developing world, saying that "Martin Luther King [Jr.]... didn't just have a dream, he got things done." Jemison has also appeared as host and technical consultant of the science series World of Wonder which aired on the Discovery Channel from 1994 to 1998. In 2006, Jemison participated in African American Lives, a PBS television miniseries hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., that traces the family history of eight famous African Americans using historical research and genetic techniques. Jemison found to her surprise that she is 13% East Asian in her genetic makeup. Jemison participated in the Red Dress Heart Truth fashion show, wearing Lyn Devon, during the 2007 New York Fashion Week to help raise money to fight heart disease. In May of the same year, she was the graduation commencement speaker and only the 11th person in the 52-year history of Harvey Mudd College to be awarded an honorary D.Eng. degree. On February 17, 2008, Jemison was the featured speaker for the 100th anniversary of the founding of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first sorority established by African-American college women. Jemison paid tribute to Alpha Kappa Alpha by carrying the sorority's banner with her on her shuttle flight. Her space suit is a part of the sorority's national traveling Centennial Exhibit. Jemison is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Jemison participated with First Lady Michelle Obama in a forum for promising girls in the Washington, D.C. public schools in March 2009. In 2014, Jemison also appeared at Wayne State University for their annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Luncheon. In 2016, she partnered with Bayer Corporation to promote and advance science literacy in schools, emphasizing hands-on experimentation. She took part in Michigan State University's lecture series, "Slavery to Freedom: An American Odyssey", in February 2017. In May 2017, Jemison gave the commencement speech at Rice University. She discussed the 100 Year Plan, science and education and other topics at Western Michigan University also in May 2017. In 2017, LEGO released the "Women of NASA" set, with minifigures of Jemison, Margaret Hamilton, Sally Ride, and Nancy Grace Roman. The Google Doodle on March 8, 2019 (International Women's Day) featured a quote from Jemison: "Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations." == Personal life ==

Jemison built a dance studio in her home and has choreographed and produced several shows of modern jazz and African dance. In the spring of 1996, Jemison filed a complaint against a Texas police officer, accusing him of police brutality during a traffic stop that ended in her arrest. She was pulled over by Nassau Bay police officer Henry Hughes for allegedly making an illegal U-turn and arrested after Hughes learned of an outstanding warrant on Jemison for a speeding ticket. In the process of arresting her, the officer twisted her wrist and forced her to the ground, as well as having her walk barefoot from the patrol car into the police station. In her complaint, Jemison said the officer physically and emotionally mistreated her. Jemison's attorney said she believed she had already paid the speeding ticket years before. The Nassau Bay officer was suspended with pay pending an investigation, but the police investigation cleared him of wrongdoing. She filed a lawsuit against the city of Nassau Bay and the officer. == Honors and awards ==

postage stamp • 1988 Essence Science and Technology Award • 1990 Gamma Sigma Sigma Woman of the Year • 1991 ''McCall's'' 10 Outstanding Women for the 90s • 1992 Johnson Publications Black Achievement Trailblazers Award • 1993 People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" • 1993 Turner Trumpet Award • 2002 Texas Women's Hall of Fame inductee • 2003 Intrepid Award by the National Organization for Girls • 2004 International Space Hall of Fame • 2005 The National Audubon Society, Rachel Carson Award • 2017 Buzz Aldrin Space Pioneer Award • 2019 Florida Southern College Honorary Chancellor • 2021 Sylvanus Thayer Award from the United States Military Academy Institutions • 1992 Mae C. Jemison Science and Space Museum, Wilbur Wright College, Chicago, Illinois • 2007 Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy, a public charter school in Baltimore, Maryland (closed in 2013) • 2010 Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy West, a Middle/High School in Baltimore, Maryland • 2013 Jemison High School, Huntsville, Alabama Honorary doctorates • 1991 Doctor of Letters, Winston-Salem College, North Carolina • 2005 Doctor of Science, Wilson College, North Carolina • 2006 Doctor of Science, Dartmouth College • 2007 Doctor of Engineering, Harvey Mudd College • 2008 Doctor of Humanities, DePaul University • 2009 Doctor of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of NYU • 2019 Doctor of Humane Letters, Florida Southern College • 2020 Doctor Honoris Causa, KU Leuven • 2022 Doctor of Science, Washington University in St. Louis • 2022 Doctor of Science, Clarkson University • 2023 Doctor of Engineering, University College Dublin == Filmography ==

• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993) – Lieutenant Palmer, episode "Second Chances" • Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond (1996) – herself • The New Explorers (1998) – episode "Endeavor" • How William Shatner Changed the World (2005) – herself • African American Lives (2006) – herself • The Real (2016) – herself • Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023) – Skipster (voice), episode "Skip Ad...olescense" == Publications ==

• • She contributed the piece "Outer Space: The Worldly Frontier" to the 2003 anthology ''Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium'', edited by Robin Morgan. Books • • • • • == See also ==