History-making Astronaut to Speak

History-making Astronaut to Speak

Jemison to Discuss Benefits of Science and Technology

Just eight years ago, Mae Jemison made history as the first black woman to go into space when she flew as a mission specialist astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor.

She will draw on her experience as an astronaut and as head of her own company when she speaks at Rice Feb. 23 as part of the 1999-2000 President’s Lecture Series. Jemison will deliver her talk, titled "Global Benefits of Science and Technology," at 8 p.m. in the Grand Hall of Rice Memorial Center.

Jemison started her career in West Africa as an area Peace Corps medical officer after earning undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and African and Afro-American studies from Stanford University and a medical degree from Cornell University.

She practiced medicine in Los Angeles and served as a NASA astronaut for six years. She was the science mission specialist on the joint United States-Japan STS-47 Spacelab J shuttle flight, where she conducted experiments in life sciences and material sciences and was a co-investigator of a bone cell research experiment. She resigned from NASA in 1993.

Her company, the Jemison Group, is dedicated to the research, development and implementation of new technologies. It is involved in a number of projects, including a satellite-based telecommunications system to improve health care in West Africa and the Earth We Share, an international science camp.

A professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College, Jemison, who was born in Alabama and raised in Chicago. Now calling Houston home, she also directs the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries at Dartmouth. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993 and named one of Ebony magazineÕs 50 most influential women.

No tickets will be needed for admission to the President’s Lecture. Seating will begin at 7 p.m.

To attend, enter gate no. 13 off Rice Boulevard or gate no. 8 off University Boulevard. Parking is available directly across from the Student Center and in nearby lots. Additional parking is available in the stadium lot, and a shuttle bus will run between the Student Center and the stadium lot from 7 to 9 p.m.

For more information call (713) 348-6093, e-mail sjd@rice.edu or refer to http://www.rice.edu/pls.