Former NASA Astronaut To Receive Thayer Award

WEST POINT, N.Y. –– Former NASA astronaut, Doctor Mae C. Jemison, will receive the prestigious Association of Graduates Thayer Award in a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Military Academy Thursday, Oct. 7. The Corps of Cadets will conduct a parade in her honor at 5:30 p.m., on the Plain, prior to the award presentation dinner.  

Jemison served six years as a NASA astronaut and is trained as an engineer, social scientist, dancer and was the Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia.

She leads 100 Year Starship, an independent, non-profit global initiative seed funded through a competitive grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to ensure the capabilities for human travel to another star within the next 100 years and to enhance life on Earth.

As a professor at Dartmouth College, Jemison focused on technology designs for sustainability for both industrialized and developing nations. She founded two technology companies and the non-profit Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, which designs and implements STEM education experiences impacting thousands of students and hundreds of teachers worldwide. In September 2017, she spearheaded Look Up to connect people to space, earth, and each other.

The Thayer Award, established in honor of Col. Sylvanus Thayer, “Father of the Military Academy,” is presented to an outstanding citizen whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify the military academy’s motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.” The Association of Graduates has presented the award annually since 1958. 

Past recipients of the Thayer Award include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong, Barbara Jordon, Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger, and former President George W. Bush. Last year’s recipient was Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. 

About West Point:  

The U. S. Military Academy at West Point is a four-year, co-educational, federal, liberal arts college located 50 miles north of New York City. It was founded in 1802 as America's first college of engineering and continues today as the world’s premier leader-development institution, consistently ranked among top colleges in the country. Its mission remains constant—to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the U. S. Army. For more information, go to www.westpoint.edu. 

Editor’s Note: Media interested in covering the parade should contact the Public Affairs Office by close of business Wednesday, Oct. 6. There will be a brief media opportunity immediately after the parade. The dinner portion is closed but a live stream will be available https://youtu.be/Gkys27I8lco