Ronald McNair Ph.D
Born October 21, 1950- January 28, 1986
Congressional Space Medal of Honor
He graduated from Carver High School, Lake City, South Carolina, in 1967; received a bachelor of science degree in Physics from North Carolina A&T State University in 1971 and a doctor of philosophy in Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976; presented an honorary doctorate of Laws from North Carolina A&T State University in 1978, an honorary doctorate of Science from Morris College in 1980, and an honorary doctorate of science from the University of
South Carolina in 1984. Killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
Mission Served on
STS-41-B February 3, 1984
STS- 51-L January 28, 1986
RONALD E. MCNAIR (PH.D.)
NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)
PERSONAL DATA: Born October 21, 1950, in Lake City, South Carolina. Died
January 28, 1986. He is survived by his wife Cheryl, and two children. He was a
5th-degree black belt Karate instructor and a performing jazz saxophonist. He also
enjoyed running, boxing, football, playing cards, and cooking.
EDUCATION:
McNair graduated as valedictorian of Carver High School in 1967.
In 1971, McNair received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering physics, magna cum laude, from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. At North Carolina A&T, he studied under Professor Donald Edwards, who had established the physics curriculum at the university.
In 1976, McNair received a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the guidance of Michael Feld, becoming nationally recognized for his work in the field of laser physics. That same year, he won the AAU Karate gold medal. McNair would subsequently win five regional championships and earn a fifth-degree black belt in karate.
McNair received four honorary doctorates, as well as a score of fellowships and commendations. He became a staff physicist at the Hughes Research Lab in Malibu, California. McNair was also a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and a member of the Bahá’í Faith.
ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Optical
Society, the American Physical Society (APS), the APS Committee on Minorities in Physics, the North Carolina School of
Science and Mathematics Board of Trustees, the MIT Corporation Visiting Committee, Omega Psi Phi, and a visiting
lecturer in Physics at Texas Southern University.
AWARDS: Posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
SPECIAL HONORS: Graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina A&T (1971); named a Presidential Scholar (1967-
1971), a Ford Foundation Fellow (1971-1974), a National Fellowship Fund Fellow (1974-1975), a NATO Fellow (1975);
winner of Omega Psi Phi Scholar of the Year Award (1975), Los Angeles Public School System’s Service Commendation
(1979), Distinguished Alumni Award (1979), National Society of Black Professional Engineers Distinguished National
Scientist Award (1979), Friend of Freedom Award (1981), Who’s Who Among Black Americans (1980), an AAU Karate
Gold Medal (1976), five Regional Blackbelt Karate Championships, and numerous proclamations and achievement awards.
Challenger crew: (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; (back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik
EXPERIENCE: While at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. McNair performed some of the earliest development
of chemical HF/DF and high-pressure CO lasers. His later experiments and theoretical analysis on the interaction of intense
CO2 laser radiation with molecular gases provided new understandings and applications for highly excited polyatomic
molecules.
In 1975, he studied laser physics with many authorities in the field at E’cole D’ete Theorique de Physique, Les Houches,
France. He published several papers in the areas of lasers and molecular spectroscopy and gave many presentations in the
United States and abroad.
Following graduation from MIT in 1976, he became a staff physicist with Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu,
California. His assignments included the development of lasers for isotope separation and photochemistry utilizing non-
linear interactions in low-temperature liquids and optical pumping techniques. He also conducted research on electro-optic
laser modulation for satellite-to-satellite space communications, the construction of ultra-fast infrared detectors, ultraviolet
atmospheric remote sensing, and the scientific foundations of the martial arts.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978, he completed a 1-year training and
evaluation period in August 1979, qualifying him for assignment as a mission specialist astronaut on a Space Shuttle flight
crews.
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Biographical Data
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas 77058He first flew as a mission specialist on STS 41-B which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 3, 1984.
The crew included spacecraft commander, Mr. Vance Brand, the pilot, Commander Robert L. Gibson, and fellow mission
specialists, Captain Bruce McCandless II, and Lt. Col. Robert L. Stewart. The flight accomplished the proper shuttle
deployment of two Hughes 376 communications satellites, as well as the flight testing of rendezvous sensors and computer
programs. This mission marked the first flight of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and the first use of the Canadian arm
(operated by McNair) to position EVA crewmen around Challenger’s payload bay. Included were the German SPAS-01
Satellite, acoustic levitation, and chemical separation experiments, the Cinema 360 motion picture filming, five Getaway
Specials, and numerous mid-deck experiments — all of which Dr. McNair assumed primary responsibility. Challenger
culminated in the first landing on the runway at Kennedy Space Center on February 11, 1984. With the completion of this
flight, he logged a total of 191 hours in space.
Dr. McNair was assigned as a mission specialist on STS 51-L. Dr. McNair died on January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle
Challenger exploded after launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, also taking the lives of the spacecraft
commander, Mr. F.R. Scobee, the pilot, Commander M.J. Smith (USN), and mission specialists, Lieutenant Colonel E.S.
Onizuka (USAF), Dr. J.A. Resnik, and two civilian payload specialists, Mr. G.B. Jarvis and Mrs. S. C. McAuliffe.
Following the STS-41-B mission, McNair was selected for STS-51-L as one of three mission specialists in a crew of seven. The mission launched on January 28, 1986. He and the other six crew members were killed when Challenger disintegrated nine miles above the Atlantic Ocean, 73 seconds after liftoff.
McNair was initially buried at Rest Lawn Memorial Park in Lake City, South Carolina. His remains were disinterred in 2004 and moved to Ronald E. McNair Memorial Park, located elsewhere in Lake City.
McNair was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 2004, along with all crew members lost in the Challenger and Columbia disasters.
Dr. Ronald E. McNair’s memorial in his hometown, Lake City, South Carolina
Dr. Ronald E. McNair’s tomb in his hometown, Lake City, South Carolina
Ronald McNair Park in Brooklyn, New York City
Ronald E. McNair South Central Police Station of the Houston Police Department in Houston, Texas
A variety of public places, people, and programs have been renamed in honor of McNair.
The crater McNair on the Moon is named in his honor.
The McNair Building (a.k.a. Building 37) at MIT, his alma mater, houses the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
The McNair Science Center at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina
The McNair Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research at the University of South Carolina is named in his honor.
Ronald McNair Boulevard in Lake City, South Carolina, is named in his honor and lies near other streets named for astronauts who perished in the Challenger crash.
The Quailbrook East development in Somerset, New Jersey has streets named after the Challenger and each of the seven astronauts.
The U.S. Department of Education offers the TRIO Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program for students with low income, first-generation students, and/or underrepresented students in graduate education for doctorate education.
On January 29, 2011, the Lake City, South Carolina, library was dedicated as the Ronald McNair Life History Center. When Ronald McNair was eight, the police and his mother were called because he wished to check out books from this library, which served only white patrons before he arrived. He said, “I’ll wait,” to the lady and sat on the counter until the police and his mother arrived, and the officer said, “Why don’t you just give him the books?” which the lady behind the counter reluctantly did. He said, “Thank you, ma’am,” as he got the books. The episode as recalled by his brother Carl McNair has been depicted in a short animated film.
Several K–12 schools have also been named after McNair.
McNair Memorial Park in El Lago, Texas, is named in his honor.
Ronald E. McNair Middle School in Lake City, South Carolina, was renamed from Carver High School in his honor (he was a high school graduate of the facility).
Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School in Jersey City, New Jersey
Ronald McNair Elementary School in Greensboro, North Carolina
Ronald McNair Elementary School in Germantown, Maryland
Ronald E. McNair Prince Hall Masonic Lodge No. 146 is named in his honor in Suitland, Maryland
Dr. Ronald E. McNair High School in DeKalb County, Georgia, near Decatur
Ronald E. McNair Middle School, San Antonio, Texas – Southwest ISD
Ronald McNair Middle School in DeKalb County, Georgia, near Decatur
Ronald McNair Middle School in College Park, Georgia
The McNair Open Access Computer Lab at California State University, Bakersfield
Ronald McNair Middle School, formerly the Andrew Jackson Intermediate School, in Detroit, Michigan
Ronald E. McNair Administrative Center in University City, Missouri
Ronald E. McNair Elementary School in Hazelwood, Missouri
Ronald Ervin McNair Elementary School in Denton, Texas (Denton ISD)
Ronald McNair Middle School in Rockledge, Florida
Ronald E. McNair Elementary School in Dallas, Texas (Dallas ISD)
Dr. Ronald McNair Junior High School in Pearland, Texas (Alvin Independent School District), is named in honor Dr. McNair.
Ronald E. McNair Academic Center in Chicago, Illinois
Ronald E. McNair Junior High School in Huntsville, Alabama
Los Robles Ronald McNair Academy in East Palo Alto, California
Ronald E. McNair High School in Stockton, California
PS 5, Dr. Ronald McNair School in Brooklyn, New York City, New York
PS/MS 147 Ronald McNair in Cambria Heights Queens, New York City, New York
McNair Elementary School in Compton, California
Ronald E. McNair Building: Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans, New Orleans, Louisiana
Ronald E. McNair Building: KIPP Believe College Prep, New Orleans, Louisiana
A building on the Willowridge High School campus in Houston, Texas, is named in honor of McNair.
There is a memorial in Ronald McNair Park in Brooklyn, New York, in his honor.
The Dr. Ronald E. McNair Playground in East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, is named after him.
The Ronald E. McNair Space Theater inside the Davis Planetarium in downtown Jackson, Mississippi, is named in his honor.
The Naval ROTC building on the campus of Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is named in his honor.
Ronald E. McNair Hall, On the campus of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina
The Engineering building at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, is named in his honor. The university holds a McNair Day celebration annually.
McNair was portrayed by Joe Morton in the 1990 TV movie Challenger.
The song “A Drop Of Water”, recorded by Japanese jazz artist Keiko Matsui, with vocals by the late Carl Anderson, was written in tribute to McNair.
The Jean Michel Jarre track “Last Rendez-Vous” was re-titled “Ron’s Piece” in his honor. McNair was originally due to record the track in space aboard Challenger and then perform it via a live link-up in Jarre’s Rendez-vous Houston concert.
The federally-funded McNair Scholars/Achievement Programs award research money and internships to juniors and seniors who are first-generation and low-income, or members of groups that are underrepresented, in preparation for graduate study. 187 institutions participate (as of 2020).
Michigan State University, Washington State University, and Syracuse University are three examples of these programs and both offer Summer Research Opportunity Program as additional program components.
Resources:
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration