Welcome to the SHSU McNair Program Homepage!

Contact Information

McNair Office

AB3, Room 216

Office: 936-294-3279

Fax: 936-294-4126

E-mail: McNair@shsu.edu

About Ronald E. McNair

      Ronald E. McNair was born on October 21, 1950 in Lake City, South Carolina. He was the second son of Carl and Pearl McNair. He     

      had an older brother, Carl and a younger brother, Eric. Ronald McNair's academic successes are laudable. After graduation from 

      Carver High School in 1967, McNair attended North Carolina A&T State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Physics in

      1971.  Ronald's education did not end there; he was awarded a doctoral degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

      (MIT) in 1976. In addition, McNair received three honorary doctorates. One in law from North Carolina A&T in 1978, one in science from

      Morris College in 1980, and another in science from the University of South Carolina in 1984. It is apparent that education was of extreme

      importance to him.

Ronald McNair was a member of several national organizations in science, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 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, and Omega Psi Phi. He was also a visiting lecturer in physics at Texas Southern University. McNair received many honors and awards throughout his academic and professional career. He graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina A&T University. He was named a Presidential Scholar, a Ford Foundation Fellow, a National Fellowship Fund Fellow, and a NATO Fellow. He won the Distinguished National Scientist Award from the National Society of Black Professional Engineers and was named a Who's Who Among Black Americans. McNair also won several championships and medals in Karate, for which he held a 5th degree black belt, Karate's highest rank.

Ronald E. McNair was nationally recognized for his work in the field of laser physics. In 1978, he was one of 35 applicants selected from a pool of ten thousand for NASA's space shuttle program. After a one-year training and evaluation period he was assigned as a mission specialist aboard the 1984 flight of the Challenger, where he became the second African-American to fly in space. On Tuesday, January 28, 1986, Ronald McNair was killed along with his six fellow crew members aboard the Challenger when it exploded after launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew members were F. R. Scobee; the pilot, Commander M. J. Smith; mission specialists, Lieutenant E.S. Onizuka and Dr. J.A. Resnik; and two civilian payload specialists, G. B. Jarvis, and S. C. McAuliffe. Ronald McNair was survived by his wife, Cheryl Moore and their two children, Reginald Ervin and Joy Cheray.

The Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program was established by the U.S. Department of Education in 1989 in honor of his life, accomplishments, and contributions.

 

 

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