The Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute (CWLI) will welcome Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, as the keynote speaker for the 8th Annual Leadership Address to the Community, on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
A woman who has spent her life dedicated to science, Dr.
Mae Jemison was the first African American women to go into space. She was a NASA astronaut for six years, and in September 1992 served as the Science Mission Specialist while on board the space shuttle Endeavour. Her duties while in space included performing experiments in material science, life science, and human adaptation in weightlessness.
After her venture into space, Dr. Jemison founded and started two medical technology companies, The Jemison Group, Inc. and the BioSentient Corporation. She also founded an international science camp, The Earth We Share, for students aged 12-16 from around the world.
Dr. Jemison also spends her time teaching others. She has been a professor at two different institutions. Currently, she spends time teaching courses at Dartmouth College as a professor of environmental studies. The courses she has taught include those focusing on sustainable development and technology design. She has also spent time as an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.
Her other achievements include chairing the Dorothy Jemison Foundation of Excellence, and advocating for Bayer Corporation’s program, Making Science Make Sense Program. Dr. Jemison has also written a book for teenagers entitled, Find Where the Wind Goes. It tells the story of growing up on the south side of Chicago as well as cultivating her aspiration to be a scientist, experience as a medical student in Africa, and her journey into space.
Before her legendary journey into space Dr. Jemison spent time in West Africa in the Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia. While she was there she spent two and a half years attending to the healthcare system for the Peace Corps.
Dr. Jemison earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and an A.B. degree in African and Afro-American Studies at Stanford University while achieving a doctorate at Cornell University in medicine.
As a public speaker Dr. Jemison shares her life’s achievements and obstacles to inspire and encourage audiences to achieve their own potential. CWLI is especially excited to welcome such an accomplished woman leader as our keynote speaker for the 2013 Annual Address to the Community.
The Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute is an organization founded to develop women for positions of business, civic and political leadership. Through networking opportunities and a variety of training and educational programs, CWLI provides women with connections and skills to help them progress to leadership positions within their chosen professions. For the past seven years, CWLI has hosted notable female leaders, including Stacey Allison, first American woman to summit Mt. Everest, Gloria Steinem, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, and the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
For more details, or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, call 394-8173.