She left NASA in 1987 to teach at Stanford University. Since 1989, she has been at the University of California at San Diego as a professor, and served as head of the California Space Institute from 1989 to 1996. She has written several books for children on the subject of space. Ride was born in Encino, Calif., and as a teen had thoughts of becoming a professional tennis player. Instead, she continued her studies in science, a love she developed in high school.
Ride advocates strong education in the sciences and math for young girls.