Bernard Anthony Harris Jr. (born June 26, 1956) is a former

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

. On February 9, 1995, Harris became the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to perform an

extra-vehicular activity Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmental support. EVA i ...

(spacewalk), during the second of his two

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

flights.

Early life

Harris was born on June 26, 1956 in

Temple, Texas Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the 2020 United States census, U.S. census. Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas and is a principal city in th ...

. His parents were Bernard A. Harris, Sr. and Gussie Emanual Harris. His parents divorced when he was six years old and seeing his father, who had only a tenth grade education, struggle to find work inspired Harris to pursue

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

. Harris first became interested in being an astronaut after watching the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

mission on TV in 1969 at 13 years old. With the help of his science teacher, he formed a science club and a rocket club with some other students.

Education

Harris graduated from Sam Houston High School in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, in 1974, where he was actively involved in science fairs, book clubs and other school activities. He received a B.S. degree in biology from

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

in 1978. He earned his MD degree from

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wit ...

in 1982. Harris completed a residency in internal medicine at the

Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...

in 1985. Harris is a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity. Harris completed a National Research Council Fellowship at NASA's

Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laborat ...

in 1987. While at Ames, he conducted research in

musculature Skeletal muscle (commonly referred to as muscle) is one of the three types of vertebrate muscle tissue, the others being cardiac muscle and smooth muscle. They are part of the somatic nervous system, voluntary muscular system and typically are a ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

and disuse. He also trained as a flight surgeon at the Aerospace School of Medicine at

Brooks Air Force Base Brooks Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas, southeast of Downtown San Antonio. In 2002, Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Developm ...

in San Antonio in 1988. Dr. Harris received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

biomedical science Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbi ...

from The University of Texas Medical Branch in 1996, and an MBA from the University of Houston (1999). Harris is also a licensed private pilot and certified scuba diver. After completing his fellowship at NASA Ames, he joined NASA's

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...

as a clinical scientist and flight surgeon, where he conducted clinical investigations of space adaptation and developed countermeasures for extended duration

space flight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such a ...

. He was the first African American man to go in space as one of NASA's research teams and he was involved in the construction of the space rovers.

Astronaut experience

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Harris became an astronaut in July 1991, and qualified for assignment as a

mission specialist Mission specialist (MS) is a term for a specific position held by astronauts who are tasked with conducting a range of scientific, medical, or engineering experiments during a spaceflight mission. These specialists were usually assigned to a s ...

on future

flight crews. He served as the crew representative for Shuttle Software in the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch. Harris was assigned as a mission specialist on STS-55,

Spacelab Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, ...

D-2, in August 1991. He flew on board Columbia for ten days, (26 April 1993 – 6 May 1993); on the mission the Shuttle reached one year of accumulated flight time. Harris was part of the payload crew of Spacelab D-2, conducting a variety of research in physical and life sciences. During this flight, Harris logged over 239 hours and 4,164,183 miles in space. His second mission was as the payload commander on

STS-63 STS-63 was the second mission of the U.S.-Russian Shuttle–Mir program and the 20th flight of . Dubbed the "Near-Mir" mission, it achieved the first rendezvous between an American Space Shuttle and Russia's space station, ''Mir''. Discovery li ...

( February 2, 1995 – February 11, 1995), the first flight of the new joint Russian-American Space Program. Mission highlights included the first rendezvous (but not docking) with the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

space station

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

and retrieval of Spartan 204 satellite. During the flight, Harris became the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

to walk in space, while fellow astronaut

Michael Foale Colin Michael Foale (; born 6 January 1957) is a British-American astrophysicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six space missions, and is the only NASA astronaut to have flown extended missions aboard both Mir and the Internat ...

became the first British-born spacewalker. (It was also on this flight that

Eileen Collins Eileen Marie Collins (born 19 November 1956) is an American retired NASA astronaut and Air Force colonel. A flight instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle and the first to command a Space Shuttle missio ...

became the first female Shuttle pilot.) On this mission, Harris logged 198 hours, 29 minutes in space, completed 129 orbits, and traveled over 2.9 million miles.

Post-NASA career

Harris left NASA in April 1996, but has continued research. He served as Vice President of SPACEHAB, Inc., and innovative space commercialization company, where he directed the company's space science business. He also served as Vice President of Business Development for Space Media, Inc., an Informatics company, establishing an e-commerce initiative that is now part of the United Nations' education program. In 1998, he founded The Harris Foundation, a Houston, Texas-based non-profit organization, whose stated mission is "to invest in community-based initiatives to support education, health and wealth. THF supports programs that empower individuals, in particular minorities and other economically and/or socially disadvantaged, to recognize their potential and pursue their dreams." In 2008, he appeared in

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

's "I'm a P.C." ad campaign. Harris also gave a keynote speech at the Exxon Mobil Texas State Science and Engineering Fair. In 2009, he was elected vice president of the American Telemedicine Association. He was elected president of the American Telemedicine Association in 2011, serving for a one-year term that ended in 2012. In 2010, he was part of the Dream Tour where he travelled to over 30 schools around the country. Currently, 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. As of April 19, 2021, Harris serves on the board of directors for commercial aerospace and weapons manufacturer

Raytheon Technologies RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation, is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by reve ...

Organizations and honors

Harris is a member of many professional, academic and service organizations, including the following: *

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a Philadelphia-based national organization of internal medicine physicians, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults. With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty or ...

Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to the area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of educa ...

honor society *

fraternity He has served as a board member for the following organizations: * Board of Regents of the Texas Tech University System (late 1990s) *

Boys and Girls Club Boys & Girls Club may refer to: * Boys & Girls Clubs of America * Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada * Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs, Bronx, United States * Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, in Essex and East London, England * The Boys' and Girls' Clubs ...

of Houston *

National Math and Science Initiative The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) is a non-profit organization based in Dallas, Texas, that launched in 2007. Its mission is to improve student performance in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the ...

(CEO) *

Medical Informatics Health informatics combines communications, information technology (IT), and health care to enhance patient care and is at the forefront of the medical technological revolution. It can be viewed as a branch of engineering and applied science. ...

* Technology and Applications Center * Houston Technology Center * National Space Biomedical Research Institute * Board of Scientific Counselors He has been recognized several times by NASA and other organizations for his professional and academic achievements. Harris has also received a number of other honorary doctorates from the following institutions: *

New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a Public university, public research university in Newark, New Jersey, United States, with a graduate-degree-granting satellite campus in Jersey City. Founded in 1881 with the support of local indust ...

Indiana Institute of Technology Indiana Institute of Technology (Indiana Tech) is a private university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was founded in 1930 as Indiana Technical College by John A. Kalbfleisch, who was also the school's first president. The university today is organi ...

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

School of Medicine (1996) *

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...

(2008) * Stonybrook University (2006) *

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

(2013) *

Worcester Polytechnic Institute The Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a Private university, private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1865, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities and now h ...

(2015) *

(2021) *

* University of the Sciences, now called St. Joseph's University (2021) He has also received the following awards: * a

NASA Space flight medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...

(1993, 1995) * a NASA Award of Merit (1996) * a fellow of the

Horatio Alger Award The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to promote and ensure the American Dream for future generations, honor the achievements of outstanding Un ...

(2000) * James Bryant Conant Award (2021) * National Space Grant Distinguished Service Award (2022) In 2005, the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas named a middle school under construction after Harris. Bernard Harris Middle School opened August 14, 2006, to have a capacity of 1500 students.

Personal life

In 1989, Harris married Sandra Fay Lewis. In 1992, the couple had a daughter named Brooke Alexandria Harris. Harris and Lewis divorced in 2008.

References

External links

*
Spacefacts biography of Bernard A. Harris Jr.
at The Harris Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Bernard A. Jr. 1956 births Living people People from Temple, Texas 20th-century African-American physicians 20th-century American physicians People from San Antonio Space medicine doctors Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center alumni Texas Tech University System regents University of Houston alumni NASA civilian astronauts Space Shuttle program astronauts Physician astronauts Spacewalkers 21st-century African-American people Members of Phi Kappa Phi United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees