Mae C. Jemison: Early Reader Edition

Mae Carol JemisonWikimedia Commons

Mae C. Jemison was born in Alabama on October 17, 1956. During her childhood, she lived in Chicago in the United States of America. She was very clever and worked hard at school. When she was 16 years old, she was accepted to Stanford University with a scholarship, which meant she was so clever that she did not have to pay to go to school there! She graduated from (which means she completed school) Stanford in 1977 with a degree in chemical engineering and a degree in African-American studies.

Mae then went to school again at Cornell University to study medicine. Whilst she was studying medicine, Mae traveled across the world to Cuba, Africa and Asia to help sick people. She graduated in 1981 and joined the Peace Corps, a group that helps people from around the world. In the Peace Corps, she took charge of the medical staff and made sure they were doing their jobs and helping people the best that they could.

In 1987, Mae decided that she wanted to become an astronaut and fly to space. She applied to work for NASA. Over 2,000 people wanted the job! But NASA chose Mae. On September 12, 1992, Mae became the first ever African-American woman to fly to space. She was part of the team that flew on a rocket called the Space Shuttle Endeavor. The flight took eight days!

Mae Jemison with the Space Flight Shuttle Endeavour teamWikimedia CommonsMae Jemison in space Wikimedia Commons

In 1993, after going to space, Mae decided to leave NASA. When she left, she started a company called The Jemison Group. The Jemison Group tried to find new ways to use technology to help people.

Mae also started the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, which was named after her mother. The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence made lots of projects to get young people to enjoy science. One of the projects was called The Earth We Share. It was a science camp for students aged 12 to 16. Another project was called Earth Online. It was a chat room online, where students could meet and talk about space and science.

In 1995, Mae started working as a teacher at Dartmouth College. As well as teaching, she started a group called the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries. The group looked into how they could give technology, like computers, the internet, and phones, to people in poorer countries across the world.

Mae has spent years trying to show students just how amazing science can be. She has written lots of books and has worked with lots of companies that work in science.

Read a more advanced-level story about Mae Jemison here.