Dr. Jemison’s remarkable career includes six years with NASA as an astronaut, in addition to working as a physician, engineer, scientist, professor, entrepreneur, and public intellectual. Prior to joining NASA in 1987, she was the Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa and a general practitioner in Los Angeles. Her tenure at NASA included acting as science mission specialist on STS-47 Spacelab J, a joint NASA mission with the Japanese Space Agency. She subsequently funded several high-tech science companies, including The Jemison Group, Inc. and BioSentient Corporation, a medical devices company focused on ambulatory physiologic monitoring and improving human performance. A life-long proponent of public service, she established The Earth We Share™ international science camp to promote science literacy for students and teachers around the world. In addition, the nonprofit Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence launched “Celebrating Women of Color in Flight” to redefine and expand the face of aerospace and aviation to include the contributions of women and underrepresented communities. Dr. Jemison takes her social responsibility message to a wide variety of forums, ranging from college campuses and high schools to corporate meetings and even the United Nations.
Dr. Jemison entered Stanford University at the age of sixteen on a scholarship and graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering while fulfilling the requirements for an A.B. in African and Afro-American studies. She earned her M.D. at Cornell University. A dedicated scientist, she has also researched and taught at many of the nation’s leading colleges, including appointments as Professor of Environmental Science at Dartmouth College and Cornell University. She has garnered some of the nation’s highest national, academic, and institutional honors and was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science. Dr. Jemison chairs the Texas State Product Development and Small Business Incubator Board and the Texas State Biotechnology and Life Sciences Industry Cluster.
In addition to academic works, Dr. Jemison has published Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments From My Life, a book for teenagers about growing up, and has hosted and appeared in several television documentaries. A Star Trek fan, she appeared in an episode of the series’ popular sequel, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and – in keeping with her track record of distinction – is the only “real” astronaut ever to appear on the show.
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