Dr. Jemison made history on Sept. 12, 1992, when she and her six crewmates on the Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-47) launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. She was a science specialist on the shuttle, which made 127 orbits around the Earth in eight days.
“We are truly honored to have Dr. Jemison deliver our commencement keynote address,” said BSE Dean Michelle D. Young. “Both her educational and professional journeys are as extraordinary as they are inspiring. Dr. Jemison is renowned for delivering captivating and thought-provoking presentations and we are delighted to offer our graduating class the invaluable opportunity to glean wisdom and insight from her.”
BSE’s commencement will be held Friday, May 17, 7:00 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall.
“Our commencement also falls on the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision that made it unconstitutional to separate public schools by race. It will be a momentous day,” Young said.
Since kindergarten, Dr. Jemison knew she wanted to be a scientist, and by age 10 had her sights set on being an astronaut. She graduated high school at age 16 and attended Stanford University, where she double-majored in chemical engineering and African and African-American studies. She went on to earn a medical degree from Cornell University.
She spent two years practicing medicine and then joined the Peace Corps in 1983 and served as a medical officer in Africa. Upon her return to the United States, she practiced medicine and as soon as she was eligible, she applied to NASA.
In 1987, Dr. Jemison was one of the 15 people selected out of more than 2,000 applicants. She spent two years working on NASA projects before being selected to join the STS-47 crew as a Mission Specialist.
While NASA had accepted women and men of color into their flight program over the years, Dr. Jemison was the first woman of color to go into space. On the 1992 Endeavor mission, she carried out experiments measuring the effects of space on motion sickness; frog fertilization; and bone loss.
In interviews, Dr. Jemison has noted that she brought personal items on the shuttle that represented people who were important to her life in order to include them on her historic space journey. The items included, a poster of Judith Jamison, artistic director emerita of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater performing Cry; a bundu statue for Black women; a certificate for Chicago public school students to promise to do well in math and science; Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority flag; and a flag of the Organization of African Unity.
Since leaving NASA in 1993 after six years as an astronaut, Dr. Jemison has remained active in education and advancing efforts in space.
She has taught at Dartmouth College, and Cornell University; founded and chairs the nonprofit Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence; and leads the 100 Year Starship project, which is focused on developing technologies that could make human space travel to another star possible within the next 100 years. She published her autobiography, Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life (Signal Hill Road), in 2001.
Her commitment to equity, inclusion and increasing access to science education is apparent through her founding of the international science camp The Earth We Share™ (TEWS) for students 12-16 years old from around the world. TEWS-Space Race launched in summer 2011 to improve science achievement among Los Angeles area students in order to boost their access and representation in the sciences. Its four-year goal is to directly impact up to 10,000 middle school students and train 600 teachers.
Through the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, Dr. Jemison developed the program Reality Leads Fantasy — Celebrating Women of Color in Flight that highlights women in aviation and space from around the world. Dr. Jemison also serves as a national advocate for Bayer Corporation’s award winning Making Science Make Sense program.
Dr. Jemison, who is fluent in three foreign languages (Russian, Japanese, and Swahili), is a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. She has served on several boards, including the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame; National Medical Association Hall of Fame; and Texas Science Hall of Fame. She has received multiple awards and honorary degrees including the National Organization for Women’s Intrepid Award and the Kilby Science Award.
A young admirer and space enthusiast chats with Dr. Mae Jemison after her Chancellor’s Lecture Series appearance at Vanderbilt University. Photo courtesty of Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt University (2019).
Editor's note: News media inquiries regarding BSE's commencement may be directed to Dara Tom in BSE's Communications Office, dtom@berkeley.edu.