Career Heroes | The Schools' Observatory

Meet our Career Heroes. These people followed their interests to successful careers in space science, technology, engineering and maths.

Browse the profiles, or search by nationality or career interest.

Displaying 1 - 84 of 84

A photo of Lulu Makapela

South African

Interest: Influencing

Photograph of Alan Turing

Mathematician and Computer Scientist

British

Interest: Computers

Photograph of Alice Bunn

President of UKspace

British

Interest: Influencing

Allan Chapman

British

Interest: History

Picture of Amira Hussein

Space Environment and Space Weather…

Egyptian

Interest: Making

Photograph of Anna Scaife

British

Interest: Computers

Photograph of Anthony Aveni

Astronomer, Anthropologist and Author

American

Interest: History

Director of the UK’s National Space…

British

Interest: Explaining

Photograph of Aomawa Shields

Astronomer and Science Communicator

American

Interest: Nature

Photograph of Arthur Walker Jr

Arthur Walker Jr.

American

Interest: Making

Bambang Hidayat at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) meeting,Montreal,Canada

Bambang Hidayat

Professor of Astronomy

Indonesian

Interest: Explaining

Bea Gallardo-Lacourt

Bea Gallardo-Lacourt

Research scientist at NASA

Chilean

Interest: Influencing

Photograph of Beatrice Tinsley

Beatrice Tinsley

Professor of Astronomy

British-New Zealander

Interest: Stargazing

Photograph of Beth A. Brown

American

Interest: Stargazing

Beza Tesfaye Zewdie

Beza Tesfaye Zewdie

Expert in Space Policy

Ethiopian

Interest: Influencing

Photograph of Carl Sagan

Astrophysicist, Author, TV presenter

American

Interest: Explaining

Photograph of Carlos Frenk

Computational Cosmologist

Mexican-British

Interest: Computers

Photograph of Charles Bolden Jr.

Charles Bolden Jr.

Astronaut & Administrator of NASA

American

Interest: Influencing

Photograph of Claudia Alexander

Claudia Alexander

Planetary Scientist

Canadian-American

Interest: Exploring

A photograph of Divya Persaud on a black background

Divya M Persaud

Planetary Scientist, writer, composer

American

Interest: Exploring

Dorothy Vaughan image

Dorothy Vaughan

Mathematician and Human Computer

American

Interest: Computers

Edward Ching-Te Chao image

Edward Ching-Te Chao

Chinese

Interest: Nature

Edward Mukuka Nkoloso

Edward Makuka Nkoloso

Science Teacher

Zambian

Interest: Influencing

A photo of Enrico Rameirez-Ruiz

Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz

Professor of astronomy and astrophysics

Mexican

Interest: Computers

Picture of Essam Heggy standing in front of NASA JPL

Earth and Space Research Scientist

Egyptian, American, French

Interest: Exploring

Picture of Farouk El-Baz smiling

Egyptian, American

Interest: Exploring

Gerard Kuiper

Astronomer & Planetary Scientist

Dutch

Interest: Exploring

Professor of Physics

Chinese

Interest: History

Hazza Al Mansouri

Hazza Al Mansouri

Emirati

Interest: Spaceflight

James Van Allen holding rockoon

James Van Allen

Space Scientist

American

Interest: Exploring

Jan Eldridge

Theoretical Astrophysicist

British - New Zealander

Interest: Computers

Jarita Holbrook

Jarita Holbrook

Professor of Astronomy

American

Interest: History

Jasmin Moghbeli in her space suit

Jasmin Moghbeli

Iranian, American

Interest: Spaceflight

Jocelyn Bell-Burnell

Jocelyn Bell-Burnell

British

Interest: Making

John Glenn

Astronaut & Politician

American

Interest: Influencing

John Johnson

Astrophysicist & Professor of…

American

Interest: Stargazing

Picture of Joyful Mhdluli giving a talk

South African

Interest: Influencing

Julia Slingo

Meteorologist & Climate Scientist

British

Interest: Nature

Junichiro Kawaguchi

Junichiro Kawaguchi

Project Manager, Professor

Japanese

Interest: Exploring

Karl Schwarzschild

Karl Schwarzschild

Physicist & Astronomer

German

Interest: Numbers

Karlie Noon

Gomeroi Australian

Interest: History

Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson

American

Interest: Numbers

Kevin Govender

Director of Office of Astronomy for…

South African

Interest: Influencing

Koppillil Radhakrishnan Picture

Koppillil Radhakrishnan

Space Scientist

India

Interest: Exploring

An AI generated sketch of Legesse Wetro

Researcher and Professor of Astrophysics

Ethiopian

Interest: Stargazing

Lisa Harvey-Smith

Lisa Harvey-Smith

Astrophysicist, Author, TV Presenter,…

British

Interest: Stargazing

Mae Jemison

American

Interest: Spaceflight

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Space Scientist and Science Communicator

British

Interest: Explaining

Picture of Maram Kaire standing next to Paris observatory

Systems engineer and astronomer

Senegalese

Interest: Explaining

A photo of María Teresa Ruiz González

María Teresa Ruiz González

Chilean

Interest: Stargazing

Mario Hamuy

Astronomer and Professor

Chilean

Interest: Stargazing

Mary Jackson

Mathematician & Engineer

American

Interest: Making

Masatoshi Koshiba

Masatoshi Koshiba

Japanese

Interest: Stargazing

Matthew Olumide Adepoju

Matthew Olumide Adepoju

Space Scientist

Nigerian

Interest: Exploring

Professor of Astrophysics

Malaysia

Interest: Exploring

MiMi Aung

Engineer & Project Manager

Burmese-American

Interest: Making

Mishaal Ashemimry in her space suit

Mishaal Ashemimry

Aerospace Engineer and Entrepreneur,…

Saudi Arabia, America

Interest: Influencing

Official portrait phot of Nana Ama Browne Kluste

Nana Ama Browne Klutse

Ghanian

Interest: Nature

Nergis Mavalvala

Nergis Mavalvala

American

Interest: Making

NASA photo of Noelia González

Noelia González

Journalist, Science Writer

Uruguayan

Interest: Explaining

Norio Kaifu

Japanese

Interest: Influencing

An Indian woman facing the camera and smiling. Her hair is tied back and she wears sunglasses on top of her head. She stands under a canopy-like tent, some of which can be seen running horizontally across the top of the photo. In the background is a sunny field with trees and a man standing beside a telescope.

Padma Yanamandra-Fisher

Planetary Scientist

Indian

Interest: Explaining

Official NASA portrait of Piers Sellers in his orange astronaut suit.

Astronaut, Meteorologist

British-American

Interest: Nature

Ricardo Schiavon

Ricardo Schiavon

Brazilian

Interest: Stargazing

A NASA photo of Rosa Avalos-Warren

Rosa Avalos-Warren

NASA Programme Executive

Peruvian

Interest: Spaceflight

Rose Wanjiku Njogu-Mwangi

Rose Wanjiku Njogu-Mwangi

Aerospace Engineer

Kenyan

Interest: Exploring

Sally Ride

Astronaut and Physicist

American

Interest: Spaceflight

Samantha Cristoforetti

Samantha Cristoforetti

Astronaut, Pilot and Engineer

Italian

Interest: Spaceflight

Samuel Okoye

Nigerian-British

Interest: Stargazing

Picture of Sara Sabry

Astronaut, Engineer, and Entrepreneur

Egyptian, Lebanese

Interest: Spaceflight

Sheila Kanani

Planetary Physicist and Communicator

British

Interest: Explaining

Silvia Torres-Peimbert

Silvia Torres-Peimbert

Astronomer & Former President of…

Mexican

Interest: Influencing

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

Physicist & Author

British

Interest: Numbers

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Indian-American

Interest: Numbers

Susan Murabana Owen

Susan Murabana Owen

Astronomer and CEO

Kenyan

Interest: Explaining

Tana Joseph

Astronomer and Science Communicator

South African

Interest: Explaining

Teresa Anderson

Teresa Anderson

Director of Jodrell Bank Discovery…

British

Interest: Explaining

Thebe Medupe

Astrophysicist & Ethno-astronomer

South African

Interest: History

Tim Peake

British

Interest: Spaceflight

Trần Thanh Vân

Trần Thanh Vân

Nuclear/Particle Physicist

Vietnamese

Interest: Influencing

Ursula Marvin

Planetary Geologist

American

Interest: Exploring

Valeri Polyakov

Valeri Polyakov

Russian

Interest: Spaceflight

Picture of Víctor Manuel Blanco

Víctor Manuel Blanco

Puerto Rican

Interest: Stargazing

Wanda Díaz-Merced

Wanda Díaz-Merced

Puerto Rican

Interest: Computers

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