Dr. Ronald E. McNair
Dr. Ronald E. McNair, one of America’s first black astronauts, believed in excellence.
When he was born in Lake City, South Carolina, on October 21, 1950, as Ronald Erwin McNair, his parents knew that he was a special child.
In 1967, he graduated as valedictorian from Carver High School in Lake City and went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude in 1971 from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a bachelor’s degree in physics, and was named a Ford Foundation Fellow. Dr. McNair was a laser physicist who received his doctorate in 1976 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he finished top in his class at the age of 26.
Dr. McNair received three honorary doctorate degrees as well as numerous fellowships and commendations. These distinctions include: Presidential Scholar, 1976-77, Ford Foundation Fellow, 1971-74, National Fellowship Fund Fellow, 1974-75, Omega Psi Phi Scholar of the Year, 1974-75, Distinguished National Scientists, National Society of Black Professional Engineers, 1979, and the Friends of Freedom Award, 1981.
Within the same year of receiving his doctorate, he married Cheryl Moore; and, joined Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, as a staff physicist. Ronald E. McNair’s accomplishments are not limited to his achievements in physics. He was an attentive husband, a loving father to his son and daughter, held a fifth degree black belt in karate, and was an accomplished jazz saxophonist.
Dr. McNair received the call and was accepted into the Astronaut Candidate Program and completed his training in 1979. He made his first space flight in 1984; two years later, he boarded the Challenger (also known as Mission 51-L) for his second flight into space. 73 seconds into liftoff, an explosion occurred on the chilly morning of January 28, ending the life of a young man of 35 and his dream, along with six other crew members who were killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded after its launch at the Kennedy Space Center.
His memory lives in each student who enters the McNair Program, and strives to receive a Ph.D. After his death, members of Congress provided funding for the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program dedicated to the high standard of achievement Dr. McNair displayed.