Mae Jemison

1
Mae Jemison

• Out Of This World

2
Early Childhood

• Born- Oct. 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama
• Youngest of three children
• Mother- Dorothy Green- teacher
• Father- Charlie Jemison- maintenance supervisor
• Age 3- Family moved to Chicago for better
  educational opportunities

3
Hands-On Parenting

• Research in brain development Parents are
  childs first and most important teachers in
  providing stimulating experiences.
• Parents turned real-life experiences
• into learning opportunities
• Infected finger incident science project about
  pus!
• Parents Philosophy Understand the world
• around you and always be open to learning.

4
Determined Despite Dissuasion

• In 1961, Jemison entered Kindergarten at age
  five.
• Story of Kindergarten teacher
• Self-study- Astronomy and Chemistry
• Spent much time in library
• Jemison was inspired by Martin
• Luther King Jr. because of his attitude,
  audacity, and bravery.

5
Signs of a Prodigy

• Studies show gifted children often have intense
  interests, are curious, and have a musical or
  artistic inclination.
• Interests wide and varied
• Enjoyed the arts, foreign
• languages, many areas of science
• African dancing, ballet, jazz,
• modern, and Japanese

6
Excelling at Everything

• Interests and study of chemistry and astronomy
  continue
• Studied dance and
• Russian language
• Later became fluent in
• Japanese and Swahili
• Danced and acted in plays
• Served on the student council

7
Talents and Touch Choices

• Senior Year New York Medical School or
  professional dancer?
• Mother helps with decision
• Graduated with top honors from Morgan
• Park High School in 1973, at the age of 16!
• Evidence of grade-skipping and
• acceleration
• Gifted youth have so many interests and
  talents, they often have difficulty narrowing
  their career path.

8
Stanford University

• Entered Stanford University at age 16
• Majored in engineering and found it difficult as
  an African American woman to be treated fairly by
  professors
• Graduated from Stanford in 1977 with a B.S. in
  chemical engineering
• Also filled requirements for a B.A. in African
  and Afro-American Studies

9
Cornell and Peace Corps

• Obtained Doctor of Medicine degree- 1981 Cornell
  Medical College
• Traveled to Cuba, Kenya, and Thailand to provide
  care for people there, giving evidence of
  emotional giftedness.
• Interned at Los Angeles County-
• USC MC
• 1983-1985-Joined the Peace Corps
• and served in West Africa

10
NASA

• The flight of Sally Ride in 1983 paved the way
  for women to apply.
• African-American actress, Nichelle Nicols, who
  played Uhura on Star Trek, inspired Mae to join
  NASA.
• Jemison was accepted on her second application as
  one of fifteen applicants out of 2000.
• She was among the first class of astronauts
  selected after Challenger explosion in 1986.

11
190 Hours, 30 Minutes, 23 Seconds in Space

• September 12-20, 1992- Jemisons only space
  misson aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour
• Mae took several art
• objects on board
• as a salute to
• creativity.
• When she flew over Chicago,
• Mae remembered her childhood dreams and
  realized her huge accomplishment.

12
Space Accomplishments

• Jemison- Fifth African-American astronaut
• First African-American woman astronaut for NASA
• First African-American
• woman in space
• 1993- Mae was the first astronaut
• to guest star on a Star Trek episode!

13
1993-Present

• Jemison started her own company, The Jemison
  Group, to research and develop science and
  technology.
• Founded Dorothy Jemison Foundation- started The
  Earth We Share, a science camp for children ages
  12-16.
• Professor-at-large Cornell University
• Prof. Of Environmental Studies- Dartmouth
  College, NH
• Author, Find Where the Wind Goes
• Appears at charity events
• Host- World of Wonders series- Discovery Channel

14
Dynamic Public Speaker

• Jemison is an active public speaker who promotes
  science and technology and gives inspiration to
  young people.
• Advocates science education and getting minority
  students interested in that area
• March 2009- Mae participated
• with Michelle Obama in a
• forum for promising young girls
• in Washington, D.C.

15
Combining Science and the Arts

• Jemison has become a crusader for a new vision of
  learning that combines the arts and sciences,
  intuition and logic.
• She believes that science provides
• understanding of universal experiences while
  art provides understanding of personal
  experiences.
• Integration of arts and science is essential.
• Ideas Potential Energy Nothing will happen
  until we risk putting words into action!

16
Jemisons Gifted Traits

• Jemison possessed many shared characteristics of
  gifted individuals
• Mae was determined from an early age to someday
  travel into space.
• She was extremely curious about astronomy and
  learned rapidly in school.
• She read from an early age and used language
  skills easily.
• Interests were broad and intense and included
  science and the arts.
• Leadership abilities were exhibited throughout
  high school and beyond in student council
  activities, Peace Corps work, NASA, and now in
  business.

17
Mae Jemison- Obstacles

• Gender issues Jemison grew up in the 60s and
  often encountered resistence, as did many girls,
  in her pursuit of a science career. Even her
  Kindergarten teacher dissuaded her from wanting
  to be a scientist!
• Racial/Cultural Bias Jemison recalls, as often
  the only black woman in many classes, being
  treated differently by some educators, often
  criticized for questions asked or even ignored.
• Peer relations Mae related more to her parents,
  uncle, teachers, and mentors than children her
  own age.
• Curriculum Lack of gifted programs/
  differentiating curriculum in schools left
  Jemison unsatisfied and unfulfilled. She studied
  on her own, going to the library every chance she
  had.

18
Nurturing Giftedness- Then and Now

• Now
• Awareness and availability of services for
  preschool gifted programs - early identification
  and placement
• Gifted services provided from early childhood
  through high school
• Greater acceptance and support of women with
  academic strengths in science/math areas
• Racial equality barriers slowly being broken down
• Differentiation
• Talent development programs

• Then
• Brain development- plenty of early stimulation
  and emotional support from parents
• Intrinsically motivated
• Community resources
• Mentors/Role Models
• Opportunities to pursue interests and leadership
  roles
• Acceleration/Grade skipping
• Self-expression/self-actualization needs met

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Extraordinarily Gifted

• Chemical Engineer, Scientist, Physician, Teacher,
  Astronaut, Well-versed in several languages,
  Trained in dance and choreography, Actress,
  Businesswoman, Author, and Motivational Speaker
• Mae Jemison knows no boundaries, learning from
  her parents never to limit herself due
• to others limited imaginations.
• Her determination to accomplish
• goals regardless of obstacles or
• negative attitudes of others is
• truly an inspiration.

20
Resources

• Abott, John (1997 March). To be intelligent.
  Educational Leadership, 6-10.
• Clark, Barbara (2008). Growing up gifted. Upper
  Saddle River, N.J. Pearson Education, Inc..
• Greene, Nick (2009). Dr. Mae C. Jemison First
  african-american woman in space. Retrieved June
  9, 2009, from About.com space/astronomy Web site
  http//space.about.com/cs/formerastronauts/a/jemis
  onbio_2.htm?p1
• Mae C. Jemison. (2004). In Encyclopedia Of World
  Biography Web. Gale Cengage Learning.
  Retrieved June 9, 2009, from http//www.encycloped
  ia.com/doc/1G2-3404703299.html
• Nash, J. Madeleine (1997, February 3). Fertile
  Minds. Time, 49-56.
• Robinson, Nancy M. (2002 Fall). Assessing and
  advocating for gifted students Perspectives for
  school and clinical psychologists. National
  Research Center for Gifted Education and Talent
  Development, RM02166, Retrieved June 16, 2009,
  from http//www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/newsletter/
  fall02/fall024.html