Sally Ride blasted off aboard shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983, to become the first American woman in space. Thirty-five years later, members of the Board of Directors of Sally Ride Science marked the 35th anniversary of that historic flight with a reunion.
The board oversaw Sally Ride Science from its founding in 2001 until the company joined UC San Diego and became a nonprofit in 2015. Five former board members gathered June 18-21 at Triple Creek Ranch in Montana. They are, from left:
- Barbara Barrett, former US ambassador to Finland, chair of the Aerospace Corporation, and a member of the boards of California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Smithsonian Institution
- Jane Swift, former acting governor of Massachusetts, former CEO of Middlebury Interactive Languages and advisor to Deloitte’s Women’s Initiative
- Tam O’Shaughnessy, Ride’s life partner and cofounder of Sally Ride Science. After Ride’s death, O’Shaughnessy served as the company’s CEO and chair of the Board of Directors.
- Marcia Reed, former NASA engineer and former COO of Jabra wireless headsets
- Betsy Butler, founder of Blue Sky Realty Group, associate broker at RE/MAX Metro Atlanta and former executive director of the Georgia Foundation for Athletic Excellence.
Triple Creek Ranch, the setting for the reunion, is owned by Barrett and her husband, Craig Barrett, former chairman and CEO of Intel. The resort offers luxury accommodations, gourmet meals, hiking, horseback riding, fly-fishing and other recreational activities.
After leaving NASA, Ride joined O’Shaughnessy and three friends to found Sally Ride Science with the goal of inspiring girls and boys of all backgrounds to study science and to imagine themselves in science and technology careers. Today, that mission continues through Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego, with O’Shaughnessy as executive director.