Mae C. Jemison was born in Alabama to Charlie and Dorothy Jemison, on October 17, 1956. She grew up in Chicago most of her life, and that is where home is for her. She loved science and space at an early age and always told herself one day that she would go to space. That dream became in her reach when she graduated from Stanford with Afro-American studies and chemical engineering degrees, in the late 1970's. Also, in the early 1980's Jemison earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Cornell. September 12,1992 was the date Mae Jemison completed a milestone by being the first African American woman to enter space, through the NASA program.

Mae Jemison has promoted National funding for scientific research in the years to come in collaboration with the National Science Foundation. The Institute is starting S.E.E.ing the future which stands for Science, Engineering, and Education.

In collaboration with the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, TEWS wants to promote a fun and interactive way to learn about science in and outside the classroom.

She is the professor of Environmental studies at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League school in New Hampshire.