Another Oct. bday #WomanInSTEMCrushWednesday queen is the marvelous @maejemison whose bio sums up her accomplishments: “1st woman of color in space, Astronaut, Physician, Engineer, Educator, Futurist, Leader 100 Year Starship, Area Peace Corps Medical Officer. Don’t doubt, dare!”

As a youngster, Mae enjoyed science and was such a bright student that she started at Stanford when she was only sixteen! She graduated in ’77 with a BS in Chemical Engineering and a BA in African and Afro-American Studies.

Mae turned right around and earned her medical degree from Cornell in ’81. While studying at Cornell, she traveled to Cuba to lead a study for the American Medical Student Association. She also practiced medicine as a volunteer in a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand.

Fluent in Russian, Japanese, Swahili, and English, Mae joined the Peace Corps in ‘83. She worked for 2 years as the Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia, responsible for the health of volunteers serving in those countries.

Some of her tasks included supervision of the pharmacy, laboratory, and medical staff. She provided medical care, wrote self-care manuals, and developed/implemented guidelines for health & safety issues. She also researched various vaccines with the NIH & CDC.

When Mae returned to the USA in ‘85, she opened a private practice and began attending graduate engineering classes. NASA selected her to join the astronaut program in ’87 and 5 years later, she was the science mission specialist for STS-47 Spacelab-J aboard Shuttle Endeavour.

Mae completed the 8-day mission in 127 orbits of the Earth and logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space.

Because of her love of dance, Mae debated a dance career after college. She chose a different route, but has credited her dance training as an important part of her success as an astronaut.

Since leaving NASA in ’93, Mae maintains a role as an active public speaker, has written several books, was a professor at Dartmouth, appeared in many TV programs, has a LEGO mini-figurine in her likeness, ...

(deep breath)...has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame, leads 100 Year Starship, and so much more than cannot fit into this thread!

Watch a video interview with Mae: https://www.cnn.com/.../mae.../video/playlists/moon-space/

Read more about her life: https://www.womenshistory.org/edu.../biographies/mae-jemison

#LaSPACE #NASA #STEM #WomanCrushWednesday #WomenInSTEM