Bernard A. Harris
Bernard A. Harris is a former NASA astronaut who is known as the first African-American to walk in space. was inspired by science and technology throughout his life. He was born June 26, 1956 in Temple, Texas.
Dr. Harris received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from University of Houston in 1978, a doctorate in medicine from Texas Tech University School of medicine in 1982. Dr. Harris completed a residency in internal Medicine at the mayo Clinic in 1985. In addition, he completed a National research council Fellowship at NASA Ames research center in 1987, and trained as a flight surgeon at the Aerospace School of medicine, Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, in 1988. Dr. Harris also received a master’s degree in biomedical science from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1996.
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Harris became an astronaut in July 1991. He is qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. He served as the crew representative for Shuttle Software in the Astronaut Office operations development Branch. A veteran of two space flights, Dr. Harris has logged more than 438 hours in space.
Dr. Harris was assigned as a mission specialist on STS-55, Spacelab D-2, in August 1991, and later flew on board Columbia for ten days, (April 26 to May 6, 1993), marking the shuttle’s one year of total flight time.
Most recently, Dr. Harris was the Payload commander on STS-63 (February 2-11, 1995), the first flight of the new joint Russian-American Space Program. During the flight Dr. Harris became the first African-American to walk in space. He logged 198 hours, 29 minutes in space, completed 129 orbits, and traveled over 2.9 million miles.
Dr. Harris left NASA in April 1996. Currently, Dr. Harris is CEO of the National Math and Science Initiative and President and Chief Executive Officer of Vesalius Ventures, Inc., a venture capital accelerator, that invests in early-stage companies in Medical Informatics and Technology. He is Chief Scientist and Vice-President of Science and Health Services.
