Dr. Kathryn Sullivan has a long career as a distinguished scientist, astronaut and executive. She was one of the first six women to join the NASA astronaut corps in 1978 and holds the distinction of being the first American woman to walk in space. Her submersible dive to the Challenger Deep in June of 2020 made her a triple Guinness World Record holder, as the most vertical person in the world, the first person to both orbit the planet and reach its deepest point, and the first woman to dive to full ocean depth. Sullivan has held a variety of senior executive positions since leaving NASA, including Presidential appointments to the National Science Board and as Chief Scientist, Deputy Administrator and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 2021 she was appointed by President Biden as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
