Bowl, Shapiro Award, Sally Ride

This Shapiro Award was presented to Dr. Sally K. Ride in October 2004. The award honors Joseph Shapiro, and is presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated the ability to create positive and lasting change in their communities. Ride was recognized for her achievements as an astronaut as well as for the creation of Sally Ride Science, an organization that promotes science education. The award was presented during The Billie Jean King and Friends Event, a fundraiser held by the California State University at Los Angeles (CSULA) to enhance its student-athlete program.

Sally Ride became the first American woman in space when she flew aboard STS-7 in 1983. Her second and last space mission was STS-41G in 1984. A physicist with a Ph.D., she joined the astronaut corps in 1978 as a part of the first class of astronauts recruited specifically for the Space Shuttle Program. Viewed as a leader in the NASA community, she served on the Rogers Commission after the Challenger disaster in 1986 as well as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) in 2003. She also led the task force that produced a visionary strategic planning report in 1987 titled, “NASA Leadership and America’s Future in Space,” but known popularly as the Ride Report.

After she retired from NASA in 1987, Dr. Ride taught first at Stanford and later at the University of California, San Diego. Until her death in 2012, she was president and CEO of Sally Ride Science, a company that promoted science education.

Dr. Ride’s partner, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy, donated the award to the Museum in 2013.