Mae Jemison

Why this person is recognized

What Mae has actually done

Recognition rests on documented conduct. Each example below records what happened, when, the principle it demonstrates, and the sources our editors reviewed, with an honest assessment of how strong that evidence is.

1. 1

   Served as Peace Corps Area Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia

   January 1983Respect for OthersEvidence: Strong

   From January 1983 to June 1985, after medical school and an internship, Jemison worked in Sierra Leone and Liberia as Area Peace Corps Medical Officer. She managed health care delivery for Peace Corps and U.S. Embassy personnel, supervised the pharmacy, laboratory and medical staff, and developed health training and public health guidelines. She also took part in research on a hepatitis B vaccine, schistosomiasis and rabies with the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.

   Principle demonstrated: Public service to others at personal cost

   Evidence note: Primary government biography (NASA) corroborated by an independent academic encyclopedia. The service itself is documented; her day-to-day conduct in the role is documented only through her own accounts.

   Supporting evidence

   • Biographical Data: Mae C. Jemison (M.D.) NASA · Primary source

     (paraphrase) From January 1983 to June 1985 she was Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia, managing the health care delivery system for Peace Corps and U.S. Embassy personnel, supervising the pharmacy, laboratory and medical staff, and developing health training and public health guidelines.

   • Mae Carol Jemison Encyclopedia of Alabama, January 27, 2017 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     served in Sierra Leone and Liberia, providing medical care for patients

2. 2

   Ordered a costly military medical evacuation for a gravely ill volunteer despite challenges to her authority

   c. 1983Moral CourageEvidence: Limited

   In her own published account, Jemison, then 26, concluded that a Peace Corps volunteer whose condition did not match a malaria diagnosis had meningitis and called for a military medical evacuation that she said cost $80,000 to initiate. She wrote that embassy staff questioned whether she had the authority and that she told them she needed no one's permission; she stayed with the patient for 56 hours and the patient survived. She has repeated the account consistently, including in a 2017 interview.

   Principle demonstrated: Principled decision under pressure for a vulnerable person

   Evidence note: Self-reported only (her own New York Times essay reposted by Peace Corps Online, and a 2017 interview). Consistent across tellings but no independent corroboration located; Peace Corps records or a contemporaneous account would strengthen it.

   Supporting evidence

   • New York Times: Peace Corps Doctor Mae Jemison answers the question 'What Was Space Like?' Peace Corps Online (reposting The New York Times), February 2, 2003 · Interview

     I was very calm and knew what the issues were.

   • The First Black Woman to Travel to Space Shares How She Finds Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems Entrepreneur, July 28, 2017 · Interview

     I had to call a military medical evacuation that cost over $80,000 to take care of a volunteer who was very ill.

3. 3

   Left NASA after one flight to found a company focused on technology for the developing world

   March 1993Personal IntegrityEvidence: Moderate

   Jemison resigned from NASA in March 1993, six months after her only spaceflight, and the same month founded the Jemison Group, a technology consulting firm. The National Library of Medicine describes the company as formed to develop technologies for the developing world, with projects including a satellite-based telecommunications system to improve health care in West Africa and consulting on solar thermal electricity for developing countries. She later taught a Dartmouth course on space-age technology in developing countries and founded the Jemison Institute there.

   Principle demonstrated: Consistency between stated values and conduct

   Evidence note: Facts of the resignation and founding are documented by NASA and the National Library of Medicine; the motive is interpretive and rests on the nature of the subsequent work. Not a sacrifice in the conventional sense, but a documented choice of mission over status.

   Supporting evidence

   • Biography: Dr. Mae C. Jemison U.S. National Library of Medicine · Public record · independently corroborated

     (paraphrase) She founded the Jemison Group in March 1993 to develop technologies for the developing world; projects include a satellite-based telecommunications system to improve health in West Africa and consulting on solar thermal electricity systems for developing countries.

   • Astronaut, teacher, doctor The Dartmouth, May 16, 1996 · Contemporaneous reporting · independently corroborated

     It is important to allow individuals to develop to their full potential, which society hasn't always allowed.

   • Biographical Data: Mae C. Jemison (M.D.) NASA · Primary source

     Dr. Jemison left NASA in March 1993.

4. 4

   Founded The Earth We Share science camps in 1994 and remained hands-on for decades

   1994Respect for OthersEvidence: Strong

   In 1994 Jemison founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, named for her mother, and its The Earth We Share international science camp for students aged 12 to 16. The Cornell Chronicle reported in 2005 that she visited the four-week camp at Cornell in person twice, returning for a day to check students' progress, and watched the final presentations remotely from China. She has described her role as chief curriculum developer, including training teachers and trainers.

   Principle demonstrated: Sustained, hands-on contribution to young people's education

   Evidence note: Independent contemporaneous reporting documents her in-person involvement; the founding is confirmed by the National Library of Medicine; her role description is self-reported. Sustained over 30 years, which distinguishes it from a one-time donation.

   Supporting evidence

   • Impressing Dr. J: Middle and high school students conclude month of science, exploration on the Cornell campus Cornell Chronicle, August 1, 2005 · Contemporaneous reporting · independently corroborated

     She returned for a day on July 18 to check their progress.

   • Former Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison Empowers Youth to Explore, Connect with the World Through STEM Education Points of Light, June 20, 2017 · Interview

     I founded TEWS in 1994 with the objective to build a curriculum to bolster the science literacy of all students.

   • Biography: Dr. Mae C. Jemison U.S. National Library of Medicine · Public record · independently corroborated

     (paraphrase) In 1994 she founded The Earth We Share, an international science camp for students aged 12 to 16, as part of the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence.

5. 5

   Testified before the U.S. Senate on barriers facing girls and minorities in science

   June 19, 2012Respect for OthersEvidence: Strong

   On June 19, 2012, Jemison submitted written testimony to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for a hearing marking the 40th anniversary of Title IX. She argued that women and minority students are pushed out of STEM fields by biased teaching, discouragement and stereotypes rather than lack of ability, described her own experience as the only girl in her high school drafting class and with skeptical engineering professors at Stanford, and called for continued enforcement of Title IX.

   Principle demonstrated: Fairness and inclusion; using influence on behalf of those with less

   Evidence note: Public record of the testimony itself. The conduct is advocacy at low personal cost, so it carries less weight than the service examples above.

   Supporting evidence

   • Written Testimony of Dr. Mae C. Jemison, MD, 'Forty Years and Counting: The Triumphs of Title IX' U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, June 19, 2012 · Public record

     I may have earned that engineering degree in spite of, rather than because of, some of my professors.