Photo: NASA / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Mae Jemison genuinely moves me. As the first African-American woman in space, she didn't just travel aboard Endeavour in 1992; she rewrote what a child from Decatur, Alabama could imagine for herself. A physician, engineer, Stanford graduate, and even an actor, she embodies a curiosity that refuses to stay in one lane. What impresses me most isn't the long list of hall-of-fame inductions but the multiplier effect of that single flight, the countless girls who saw the ceiling break. I think her real legacy is permission: proof that the boundaries we accept are mostly ones we were told to.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Mae Jemison
- Name (Japanese)
- メイ・ジェミソン
- Reading
- めい・じぇみそん
- Born
- October 17, 1956 (age 69)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Monkey
- Origin
- Decatur, Alabama, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- astronaut / physician / professor / physicist / actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Morgan Park High School
- University
- Stanford University
Awards & achievements
- NASA Space Flight Medal
- 1993 National Women's Hall of Fame
- 2015 Elizabeth Blackwell Medal
- Texas Women's Hall of Fame
- 2005 Rachel Carson Award
- 2021 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 2004 International Space Hall of Fame
- NASA Space Flight Medal
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Mae Jemison born?
Born October 17, 1956 (age 69).
Where is Mae Jemison from?
Mae Jemison is from Decatur, Alabama, United States.
What does Mae Jemison do?
Mae Jemison works as astronaut, physician, professor, physicist, actor.
Astronaut — see all → · Physician — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-17
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.