Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., October 31, 2017—Mae Jemison, engineer, physician and NASA astronaut, will present “STEM: The Importance of Science, Technology, Engineering & Math” at Williams College on Thursday, Nov. 9. The event will take place at 7 p.m. in the MainStage, ’62 Center. A reception will follow. Tickets are free but required. Tickets can be reserved online, in person, or by calling 413-597-2425 Tuesday-Friday from 1-5 p.m.
Jemison became the first woman of color in the world to go into space when she flew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Serving six years as a NASA astronaut, Jemison is an icon of both the women’s rights and civil rights movement, inducted into both the National Women’s Hall of Fame (1993) and the International Space Hall of Fame (2004).
Committed to science literacy, in 1994 Jemison founded the international science camp The Earth We Share™ (TEWS) for students 12-16 years old from around the world. In 2011, Jemison also launched the TEWS-Space Race, with the goal of improving science achievement for underserved Los Angeles-area students who are underrepresented in the sciences. Jemison continues to be a vocal advocate for improving education access and advocating for greater inclusion of girls in STEM programs. Jemison’s book, Find Where the Wind Goes, is directed at teenagers and explores her experiences growing up on the south side of Chicago, cultivating her aspirations to be a scientist and her history-making journey into space.
Following her time in NASA, Jemison founded both The Jemison Group and BioSentient Corporation. The Jemison Group is a technology consulting firm that explores and develops stand-alone science and technology programs, integrating the critical impact of socio-cultural issues with revolutionary technologies. Among The Jemison Group’s work is a project to use satellite technology for health care delivery in West Africa and another to use solar dish Stirling engines for electricity generation in developing countries.
Currently, Jemison leads The 100 Year Starship (100YSS), a revolutionary initiative to assure the capability for human interstellar space travel to another star within the next century. Prior to NASA, Jemison was a Peace Corps Medical Officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia for two and a half years, overseeing the healthcare system.
This talk serves as the Sperry Lecture in Geosciences for fall 2017. It is sponsored by Geosciences, Physics, Astronomy, Mathematics & Statistics, Chemistry, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, the Davis Center, the Science Center, the Lecture Committee, the President’s Office, Sigma Xi and the Sterling Fund of Phi Beta Kappa.
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For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Communications (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/map
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Published October 31, 2017
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