Mae JemisonHer Story. First African-American woman in space.

Mae Jemison is an engineer, physician and NASA astronaut. In 1992 she became the first African-American woman in space, flying aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Jamison was born October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama. She grew up in Chicago and from a young age she assumed she would get into space. She enjoyed science and all types of dance growing up. Jemison graduated from Chicago's Morgan Park High School in 1973 and entered Stanford University at 16 years old! She graduated from Stanford in 1977, receiving a B.S. in chemical engineering. She  was also very involved in the black community and served as head of the Black Students Union during her college years.

Jamison obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1981 at Cornell Medical College, she worked as a general practitioner for a short time after her internship. She went on to serve in the Peace Corps from 1985 until 1987, when she was selected by NASA to join the astronaut corps. She now holds nine honorary degrees in science, letters, engineering, and the humanities.