Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, died of pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012 at the age of 61. Although there are some reports on the Internet that the first woman in space was a member of a Greek-letter organization, I could find no collaborating evidence. Ride attended Swarthmore College, a college that at the time had no women's fraternities, and then transferred to Stanford University. When she was an undergraduate at Stanford in the 1970s, the women’s fraternities hadn’t yet been allowed back on campus.
Judith Resnick, Ph.D., the second woman in space, was the first American astronaut to be a member of a National Panhellenic Conference organization. Resnick, an Alpha Epsilon Phi from the Carnegie Mellon University chapter, was also the first Jewish-American in space. She was killed in the January 28, 1986 Challenger disaster. Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Foundation established the Judith Resnick Memorial Scholarship as a tribute to her. Preference is given to members who are pursuing engineering, science or other related degrees. The sorority also presented a portrait of Resnick to her alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University.
There are several other female astronauts who belong to NPC and NP-HC organizations. See the complete list at
http://wp.me/p20I1i-le
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