Harris, Bernard A., Jr., 1956-

Bernard Anthony Harris Jr. born June 26, 1956 in Temple, Texas; B.S., biology from University of Houston in 1978; MD degree from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in 1982; residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in 1985; member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity; completed a National Research Council Fellowship at NASA's Ames Research Center in 1987; trained as a flight surgeon at the Aerospace School of Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio in 1988; master's degree in biomedical science from The University of Texas Medical Branch in 1996; joined NASA's Johnson Space Center as a clinical scientist and flight surgeon, where he conducted clinical investigations of space adaptation and developed countermeasures for extended duration space flight; the first African American man to go in space as one of NASA's research teams; Dr. Bernard A. Harris Middle School named for him; selected by NASA in January 1990; 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 D-2, in August 1991. He flew on board Columbia for ten days, (26 April 1993 – 6 May 1993); part of the payload crew of Spacelab D-2; Payload Commander on STS-63 ( February 2, 1995 – February 11, 1995) became the first African-American to walk in space; left NASA in April 1996; served as Vice President of SPACEHAB, Inc.; Vice President of Business Development for Space Media, Inc.; 1998, he founded The Harris Foundation, a Houston, Texas-based non-profit organization; 2007, Dr. Harris joined the board of the National Math and Science Initiative; CEO of the National Math and Science Initiative and President and Chief Executive Officer of Vesalius Ventures, Inc.

Harris, Bernard A., Jr., 1956-