Medal, Jefferson Award, American Institute of Public Service
name: label: Manufacturer
content: Franklin Mint
label: Owner
content: Sally K. Ride
notes: label: Summary
content: This Jefferson Award medal was presented to Dr. Sally K. Ride by the American Institute of Public Service in 1984. Founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert Taft Jr., and Sam Beard, the Jefferson Award is the country’s longest standing and most prestigious celebration of public service. Ride was one of four winners that year, chosen specifically for the Samuel S. Beard Award for "Greatest Public Service by An Individual 35 Years or Under."
label: Summary
content: 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.
label: Summary
content: 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.
label: Summary
content: Dr. Ride’s partner, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy, donated the medal to the Museum in 2013.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Tam O'Shaughnessy
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A20140203000
objectType: label: Type
content: AWARDS-Medals & Ribbons
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Silver-plated Bronze Medal
label: Dimensions
content: Overall: 6.4 × 0.6cm (2 1/2 × 1/4 in.)