Buffalo State College:

Buffalo NY

27 January, 2022

12:23 PM

Description

Press release from Buffalo State College: Laurie Kaiser January 26, 2022 Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel in space, will share her trailblazing story as Buffalo State College's 2022 Diversity Speaker on Tuesday, March 1, at 7:00 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall. Jemison was invited to campus in honor of the college's 150th anniversary celebration and Women's History Month. The ticketed event is open to the public. Jemison made history on September 12, 1992, when she joined six other astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavour, becoming the first woman of color to travel in space. The team made 127 orbits around the earth before returning to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on September 20, 1992. Just five years earlier, Jemison became the first African American woman to be admitted to the NASA astronaut training program. Jemison's contributions to the fields of science, mathematics, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are much more extensive than her six years working for NASA. Educated at Stanford University as a chemical engineer and at Cornell University as a medical doctor, Jemison also served as a medical officer in the Peace Corps; operated a private medical practice; started a consulting company that encourages science, technology, and social change; and founded two medical technology companies. She taught environmental studies at Dartmouth College, directed the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries, and guest starred on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. "We are fortunate to have the opportunity to hear from such an accomplished professional who has broken so many barriers," said Buffalo State President Katherine Conway-Turner. "I'm incredibly impressed by Dr. Jemison's trailblazing efforts and her many and varied endeavors. She also continues to create opportunities for young people in numerous ways." Jemison created The Earth We Share (TEWS), an international space camp for 12- to 16-year-olds. She also started a nonprofit organization, the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence; became an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University in 1999; and wrote the children's book Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life (Scholastic Press, 2001). Jemison marks the second of Buffalo State's Diversity Speakers. The initiative began last February with anti-racism scholar, professor, author, and historian Ibram X. Kendi, who delivered a 60-minute virtual lecture, "Confronting Racism in America." This press release was produced by Buffalo State College. The views expressed here are the author's own.