Born on 17 October 1956 in Decatur, Alabama, Mae Jemison is a physician, engineer, and entrepreneur who was the first woman of color to go into space. Jemison graduated high school at age 16 and received degrees in chemical engineering and African American studies at Stanford University. She served in the Peace Corps in West Africa after graduating from medical school. In 1987 Jemison was selected for the NASA astronaut program. In September 1992 she went into space aboard the space shuttle Endeavour and performed a series of biomedical experiments. Jemison left NASA in 1993 and founded a technology consulting firm. Today she is principal of the 100 Year Starship, an interdisciplinary effort to make human travel beyond the solar system a reality within a century.
