odanny
Diamond Member
Sadly, tragically, he was lost on the Challenger in 1986.
McNair was born October 21, 1950, in Lake City, South Carolina, to Pearl M. and Carl C. McNair. He had two brothers, Carl and Eric A. McNair. In the summer of 1959, he refused to leave the segregated Lake City Public Library without being allowed to check out his books. After the police and his mother were called, he was allowed to borrow books from the library; the building that housed the library at the time is now named after him.[1] A children's book, Ron's Big Mission, offers a fictionalized account of this event. His brother, Carl also wrote the official biography, In the Spirit of Ronald E. McNair—Astronaut: An American Hero.
McNair graduated as valedictorian of Carver High School in 1967.[2]
In 1971, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering physics, magna cum laude, from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.[3]
In 1976, he received a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the guidance of Michael Feld, becoming nationally recognised for his work in the field of laser physics.
After graduation from MIT (receiving four honorary doctorates, a score of fellowships and commendations while achieving a 6th-degree black belt in taekwondo), he became a staff physicist at the Hughes Research Lab in Malibu, California.
McNair was a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity[3] and a member of the Bahá'í Faith.[4]
