Mae C. Jemison Biography

Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first American woman of color to travel into space on September 12, 1992. That was the day she rocketed into Earth orbit on an 8-day mission aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.

Raised in Chicago, Mae Jemison went to Stanford at the young age of 16 and graduated in 1977. She then earned her medical degree from Cornell University (1981) and became a physician. Jemison practiced medicine as a general practitioner in Los Angeles and served in the Peace Corps in Africa before being approved for astronaut training with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1987.

Jemison spent the next six years at NASA, ending up on mission STS-47 aboard the shuttle Endeavour in 1992. After leaving NASA in 1993 she founded the Jemison Group, a research and consulting firm, and became active in a number of educational programs.

Mae Jemison also wrote a memoir for young readers, Find Where the Wind Goes, in 2001. Her other books include Astronaut (2013) and Journey Through Our Solar System (2013).