Bernard A. Harris

As a NASA astronaut, Bernard A. Harris Jr. logged more than 438 hours and traveled over 7.2 million miles in space. He was a mission specialist on the space shuttle Columbia in 1993 and a payload commander on space shuttle Discovery in 1995, where he became the first African American to walk in space. 

Harris now pursues a range of activities that further his interest in business, space exploration, emerging technologies and community development. He was the chief executive officer of the National Math and Science Initiative and is a board member for the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine - Board on Health Sciences Policy, Chairman of the Texas Medical Center, and the Harris Foundation, which he founded. He is chief executive officer and managing partner of Vesalius Ventures, Inc. He is a trustee/director for Salient and Barings investment funds. He also serves on the boards of U.S. Physical Therapy, Raytheon Technologies, and MassMutual.

Harris earned a BS in Biology from the University of Houston, a Master of Medical Science from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, an MBA from the University of Houston – Clear Lake, and a M.D. from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic, a National Research Council Fellowship in endocrinology at the NASA Ames Research Center, trained as a flight surgeon at the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine and a fellow of the American College of Physicians. Lastly, he is the recipient of numerous awards, including nine (9) honorary doctorates, NASA Space Flight Medal, NASA Award of Merit, 2000 Horatio Alger Award and 2022 James Bryant Conant Award.