Becoming an astronaut in the United States space program is a major accomplishment for anyone, let alone an African-American from the small town of Lake City, South Carolina, but setting high standards and overcoming obstacles was part of life's journey for Ronald E. McNair. Born on October 21, 1950, McNair has been reported to have picked tobacco and cotton as a child to earn pocket money. His father, Carl McNair, Sr., worked as an auto repairman and his mother, Pearl McNair, was an elementary school teacher.

McNair showed interest in the space program long before his opportunity to participate arrived. His father fondly tells of seven-year-old Ronald rushing out of his house just to gaze at the sky in amazement. McNair had just learned of the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, the first satellite to enter space. Ronald, mesmerized by the notion that it could stay in the sky, watched for the satellite outside their house for hours, so he could get out of it's way, in case it fell out of the sky.

Education
McNair attended the small Carver High School located in his hometown, where he played saxophone in a jazz band and lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. He was valedictorian of his high school class in 1967 and graduated with honors. Upon completing high school, he enrolled at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A & T), where he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. To fund his education, he received a scholarship from the state of South Carolina. The scholarship was given to any African-American who would go to college outside the state. At that time, South Carolina did not want African-Americans going to college in their state. From NC A & T, he attended the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he was a Presidential Scholar and a Ford Foundation Fellow. McNair earned his Ph.D. degree in physics.

Dr. McNair spent many hours encouraging individuals from minority and low-income backgrounds to set the highest standards for themselves. He stated, "Whether or not you reach your goals in life depends entirely on how well you prepare for them and how badly you want them." Along the way to reaching his goals, McNair received numerous honors including:

• National Fellowship Fund Fellow, 1974-75;
• NATO Fellow, 1975;
• Omega Psi Phi Scholar of the year, 1975;
• AAU Karate Gold Metal 1976 (he held a fifth degree black belt);
• Distinguished National Scientist and National Society of Black Professional Engineers, 1979;
• Who's Who Among Black Americans, 1980.

McNair recognized the importance of a good education and the impact it could have on an individual's life. He encouraged young people to prepare for the future and get their education. He believed that "Before you can make a dream come true, you must first have one."

Work History
After graduation from MIT, he was employed with the Hughes Research Laboratory as a staff physicist where he became recognized as an expert in laser physics. He conducted research on electro-optic laser modulation for satellite-to-satellite space communications. In 1978, he was one of the 35 applicants, from a pool of ten thousand, who were selected as an astronaut candidate for the NASA space shuttle program.

NASA Space Program:
McNair, the second African-American in the NASA space program, was assigned as a Mission Specialist and flew on the successful 10th shuttle voyage in the space shuttle Challenger mission STS-41-B in 1984. During this flight, he recorded many hours of film footage in space for a documentary on the space shuttle program. "The Space Shuttle: An American Odyssey" premiered January 10, 1985, in a 60-foot-diameter domed theater in Jackson, Mississippi which is now named after McNair. McNair's NASA co-workers recalled: "We were all tremendously impressed with his intelligence, personal magnetism and energy . . . He put so much effort into this project."

What was to be the most glorious year yet in space came to an abrupt end the morning of January 28, 1986. The crew of seven astronauts perished in a shattering explosion. All that remained behind was debris floating in the Atlantic and a plume of pure-white vapor floating in a deep blue sky - the epitaph for a mission gone wrong.

Ronald Erwin McNair died on January 28, 1986, 73 seconds into his second Challenger flight and nine miles above the Atlanta Ocean along with six other crewmembers aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

A Brief Obituary: Ronald E. McNair, Ph.D.
(The New York Times, February 4, 1986)
"Specialists in laser technology . . . 33 years old . . . Second black to leave the earth on a shuttle mission . . . Regarded as outgoing and gregarious . . . Born in Lake City, S.C., where his mother, Pearl, lives . . . Graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina A & T State University and obtained his doctorate in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . . . Author of published papers on laser physics and molecular spectroscopy . . . Attended the advanced theoretical physics summer school at Les Houches in the French Alps . . . Was working in the optical physics department of Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, in 1978, when he became one of three blacks chosen as astronauts . . . Teaches karate at a church in Houston . . . Plays saxophone in jazz groups . . . Married the former Cheryl Moore of Jamaica, Queens and has two children."

The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program
Ronald E. McNair had learned that challenges and risks were a part of life. In 1984, Dr. McNair told University of South Carolina students, "True courage comes in enduring . . . preserving and believing in oneself." Based on his dedication to young people and his image as an outstanding role model of achievement, especially for young Americans, the United States Congress named the newly established Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program for Ronald E. McNair in December 1986. The U.S. Department of Education, which administers the program, recognized the need to address the lack of sufficient numbers of doctoral students who come from low-income, first-generation backgrounds, and students from groups underrepresented in graduate education. The Department of Education initiated the McNair Program to improve students' preparation and motivation for graduate study. The first McNair Scholars program begin in 1989.

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