Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1138339
12 t m c » p u l s e | j u ly 2 0 1 9 BERNARD A. HARRIS JR.—physician, astronaut, philanthropist and entrepreneur—credits the historic moon landing with catalyzing his interest in space. As an astronaut, he went to space twice, including a mission that was part of the Shuttle-Mir Program, during which he became the first African American astronaut to perform a spacewalk. Since retiring from NASA, Harris has worked tirelessly to advance STEM education, particularly in underserved communities. He is a member of the TMC Board of Directors and CEO of Vesalius Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in technology poised to transform health care. Spotlight Q | Tell me about watching the moon land- ing on TV as a kid. I imagine that was one of the most formative experiences of your life. A | I'd put that up at the top. I grew up the first six years of my life in Houston on the west side. Now they call it the Heights. We grew up poor. My dad had just gotten out of the service. There were three kids. My parents divorced when I was six, and my mother took a job on a Navajo reservation. That was the backdrop I had when I watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. I don't know where you grew up … [I grew up here in Houston.] ... so you probably missed out on the beautiful light show that occurs when the sun goes down and you see the Milky Way and you realize all those stars are just the ones in our galaxy, which is one of billions of galaxies out there. Being an inquisitive kid, being a geek, I followed the space program from first or second grade. By the time July 1969 occurred, I was 13 years old watching the lunar landing. And that was just incredible for me—not only seeing the stars, but seeing human beings land on one of those planetary bodies. I wanted to follow in the footsteps of those guys. Q | Did you have any teachers growing up who helped cultivate your fascination with science and space? A | In middle school, on the reservation, my science teacher, Mr. Johnson, helped us create a science club and a rocket club. We were launching rockets, and we even built a flying saucer that really got me into this whole concept of flying. From a mentor standpoint, he was an educator who loved what he was doing and imparted that love for science in me. Q | In addition to serving on the Texas Medical Center Board of Directors and the TMC Venture Fund investment committee, you're the CEO of the nonprofit National Math and Science Initiative and you lead your own nonprofit, The Harris Foundation. It sounds like a lot of your nonprofit work is about paying it forward because you had some great mentors. A | It was a combination of things that made me want to pay it forward. One was growing up poor initially. I could see early the importance of education in enabling dreams. Once you become an astronaut, we get asked to visit communities and act as role models. I spent a lot of time in inner-city communities trying to be inspirational to young people. I realized there were a lot of issues with our education system. That got me to thinking about how I can help—not only in supporting them, but inspiring them to become whatever it is they want to be. I think education is the great enabler. Q | What sort of work does the National Math and Science Initiative do? A | It's teaching teachers how to teach STEM. Most teachers have general education. Then they go to the districts and are asked to teach chem- istry or biology. The courses you loved the most in school were probably because the teacher was most knowledgeable in that space. It's about mak- ing teachers feel comfortable about the courses they teach.