Kathryn Sullivan, PhD
Former NOAA Administrator and Former NASA Astronaut
Kathryn Sullivan, PhD, is a geologist, former NASA astronaut, and oceanographer who was the first American woman to walk in space, the first woman to dive to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (the deepest part of the Earth’s oceans), and is the first and only person to do both.
- Flew on three shuttle missions, including the mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.
- Served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator in the Obama-Biden administration.
- Served as inaugural Director of the Battelle Center for Math and Science Education Policy in the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.
- Former President and CEO of Ohio’s Center of Science and Industry.
- Appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Science Board.
- Member of U.S. National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and National Academy of Public Administration.