Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel into space, will deliver the keynote address for Winston-Salem State University’s 113th Spring Commencement at the Lawrence Joel Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum at 9:45 a.m. Saturday, May 8. A native of Decatur, AL, Jemison was reared in Chicago, IL, where an uncle introduced her to the world of science. Undaunted by a lack of role models in the field, she excelled academically, and at age 16 she entered Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., on scholarship. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering and fulfilled the requirements for an A.B. degree in African and Afro-American studies. She then attended the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, N.Y., where she earned her M.D. degree in 1981. Following medical school, Jemison served in the Peace Corps from January 1983 to June 1985. She was stationed in Sierra Leone and Liberia, West Africa, as the area Peace Corps medical officer. There she supervised the pharmacy, laboratory and medical staff. She provided medical care, wrote self-care manuals, and developed and implemented guidelines for health and safety issues. She also worked in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC ) on research for various vaccines. After returning from the Peace Corps in 1985, Jemison secured a position with CIGNA Health Plans of California as a general practitioner in Los Angeles, Calif. She began attending graduate classes in engineering and applied to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for admission to the astronaut program. She was accepted in 1987, one of only 15 candidates accepted from some 2,000 applicants. Jemison successfully completed her astronaut training program in August 1988, becoming the fifth African-American astronaut and the first African-American female astronaut in NASA history. Jemison boarded space shuttle Endeavour in 1992, as a science mission specialist (a NASA first) on the STS-47 Spacelab J Flight, a successful joint U.S.-Japan science mission. A distinguished physician, scientist, chemical engineer, linguist and educator, Jemison believes strongly in the value of public schools. In 1992, she was honored with the establishment of the Mae C. Jemison Academy, an alternative public school in Detroit, MI. In 1993, when she resigned from NASA, Jemison began the Jemison Group Inc., a technology company in Houston, Texas. The group’s projects include a satellite-based telecommunication system to improve health care in West Africa and The Earth We Share, an international science camp for students 12 to 16 years old. Her new corporation, BioSentient, is a medical technology company. Also, she is currently an A. D. White professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Jemison is the recipient of innumerable honors and awards, including the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Winston-Salem State University in 1991.