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NSBE brings astronaut to UI

Written by Lianna Shepard - Argonaut

Monday, 14 April 2008

Graduate student Richard Hill, the president of the National Society of Black Engineers, is thrilled at the prospects of meeting his organizations next guest lecturer, Mae Jemison. “A lot of younger people, even people from your generation, don’t remember who she is…but she’s an icon,” he said. In 1992, Jemison became the world’s first black woman to go into space and the city of Chicago’s first astronaut in U.S. history. Since her flight, she has formed The Jemison Group, Inc., a technology design and consulting company. “In 2000, Washington created a list of the most likely people that could serve as the first female president, she was near the top of that list,” Hill said. Jemison was elected into the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine in 2001. She serves on the board of directors for Scholastic, Inc. and Valspar Corporation and the Texas Governor’s State Council for Science and BioTechnology Development. She has received numerous awards and honors including induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and selection as one of the “People” magazines’ 1993 “World’s 50 Most Beautiful People.” “Usually in our meetings we dedicate each one to a scientist or engineer who made strives in the community and society,” Hill said. “We chose her because she encapsulates so many points of a leader.” It was not easy to locate and schedule Jemison for an appearance, planning began last October and has only recently been finalized. “We’re just trying to tell as many people as possible, just spreading the word and hoping for a great turnout,” he said. “I think the great thing about her is anyone can come and get something out of this, not just scientist. She’s not going to get on a chalk board and start throwing equations at us, she’s talking about people.” Hill said that the most important part of the NSBE is outreach and he sees this event as a continuation of that mission. Besides the guest speakers brought to the campus, the NSBE visits schools around the Palouse. “The two major components are outreach and exposure,” Hill said. “What we’ll bring to these schools, most kids have never seen it before, and they are so afraid to touch anything because they don’t want to break it. But the more they see it, the more able they are to believe ‘hey I could do that one day too.’” This year the group has travel to schools in Spokane and Clarkston. Hill said that their outreach programs contributed to them winning the NSBE small regional chapter of the year award. Schools have already reserved seats for the Jemison event, but Hill also wants to attract as many student, faculty and community members as possible. “If someone comes to this and leaves touched, or even just leaves really thinking, we’ll have done our job,” Hill said. The event will take place at 7 p.m. on April 24 in the Kibbie Dome. Tickets are $3 in advance and $4 dollars at the door. For further information you can contact the UI ticket office or the SUB information desk. Add as favorites (28) | Views: 415 Be first to comment this article Write Comment Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code. Name: Title: Comment: