“Studying whether there’s life on Mars or studying how the universe began, there’s something magical about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge” – Sally Ride
Sally Ride was the 1st American woman in space. She was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1951. Ride was the only women majoring in physics in her undergraduate class and considers herself lucky to face minimal academic discrimination as a women. However, Sally hid her identity as a lesbian until her death in 2012. At Stanford, Sally graduated with a bachelors in physics and English and a master’s and PhD in physics. After graduating, Ride joined NASA and became the youngest astronaut at the time. In 1987, Sally became a professor at UC San Diego and director of the California Space Institute. Ride worked with UCSD to start Sally Ride Science—a company focused on providing fun scientific content to middle and high school girls. Among many awards, Ride was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of fame in 1988.