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Biography of Dr. Ronald E. McNair
 Ronald
Ervin McNair was born in Lake City, South Carolina on October 21,
1950. In 1967, he graduated from Lake City’s Carver High School and
received a B.S. degree in physics from
North Carolina A&T University in 1971 and a Ph.D. degree in molecular physics from the
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in 1976. He was awarded honorary doctoral degrees
from
Morris College in 1980 and from the
University of South Carolina in 1984.
Dr. McNair began his professional career at the
Hughes Research
Laboratories in Malibu, California, and embarked on astronaut training at
NASA in 1978. He flew his first Space Shuttle mission aboard the Challenger in 1984.
Dr. McNair died aboard the Challenger during his second Space
Shuttle mission on January 28, 1986. He is survived by his wife and two
children.
The U.S. Congress paid tribute to Dr. McNair’s achievements and legacy by
naming the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program in his
honor.
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