Dr. Mae Jemison to be HPU’s 2020 commencement speaker
Dr. Mae Jemison became the first woman of color to travel to space. Photo by NASA
By Faith Foushee
Digital Media Editor
Every year, the graduating seniors are curious about who will be the commencement speaker at graduation. On Aug. 20, High Point University announced that Dr. Mae Jemison will be the 2020 commencement speaker.
“Jemison is an accomplished NASA astronaut, engineer and physician who became the first woman of color to travel to space,” stated the HPU press release. While aboard the Endeavour shuttle in 1992, Jemison performed experiments in material science, life science and human adaptation to weightlessness on herself and others aboard the shuttle.
After spending 190 hours in space, Jemison noted that society needs to recognize how much women and other minority groups can contribute. Following her return, she received several awards, including the 1988 Essence Science and Technology Award, the Ebony Black Achievement Award and a Dartmouth College Montgomery Fellowship. There is also Mae C. Jemison Academy, a public school in Michigan that was named after her.
Jemison was born in Alabama and moved to Illinois when she was three years old to have more educational opportunities. Growing up, she spent several hours in the library reading about science, but astronomy interested her most. Following high school, Jemison attended Stanford University with a scholarship to study chemical engineering. She then attended Cornell University Medical College and spent some time studying in Cuba, Kenya and Cambodia.
Originally, Jemison worked as a general practitioner and performed medical research in Liberia. When Jemison returned to the United States, she decided to change her career and applied to NASA’s astronaut training program. She was accepted as one of 15 in a pool of 2,000 candidates.
Jemison left the astronaut corps in 1993 to accept the teaching fellowship offered by Dartmouth. She also serves as a member of several organizations such as the American Medical Association, the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Additionally, she served on the board of directors of the World Sickle Cell Foundation, as an advisory committee member of the American Express Geography Competition and as an honorary board member of the Center for the Prevention of Childhood Malnutrition. She is the founder of the Jemison Group, a company whose goal is to research, develop and market advanced technology.
Dr. Jeff Regester, a professor in HPU’s department of physics and astronomy, says he “first knew about her because she was the first African American woman to be an astronaut.” Regester believes that black women flying in space was long overdue. Regester also noticed that Jemison once appeared in an episode of Star Trek.
“You do have to work hard to reach your goals, but along the way of attaining your goals there is also room for failure,” Regester said, hoping that Jemison would echo his thoughts. “Often times you learn more from failure and setbacks than you do from success.”
“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity,” Jemison once said. “It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.”
Many students and faculty look forward to hearing Jemison’s speech in May and are anticipating what her speech will be about. The commencement speech is an event where only HPU graduates and their families can attend, but Dr. Jemison’s words will be publicly live streamed at highpoint.edu/live.