Kathryn C. Thornton
| Kathryn Ryan Cordell Thornton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Retired |
| Born |
August 17, 1952 Montgomery, Alabama |
|
Other occupation
|
Physicist |
|
Time in space
|
40d 15h 14m |
| Selection | 1984 NASA Group |
| Missions | STS-33, STS-49, STS-61, STS-73 |
|
Mission insignia
|
   
|
Kathryn Ryan Cordell Thornton (Ph.D.) (born August 17, 1952 in Montgomery, Alabama) is an American scientist and a former NASA astronaut with over 975 hours in space, including 21 hours of extravehicular activity. She was the associate dean for graduate programs at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, currently a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. She was also the academic dean for the fall 2013 Semester at Sea.
Thornton is married to Stephen T. Thornton, Ph.D., of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She has two stepsons, Kenneth and Michael Thornton, and three daughters, Carol Hood, Laura Thornton and Susan Thornton. In her spare time she enjoys skiing and Scuba diving. Both of her parents, Mr. William C. Cordell and Mrs. Elizabeth Cordell, are deceased.
Kathyrn Thornton graduated from Sidney Lanier High School (Montgomery, Alabama) in 1970. She later received a Bachelor of Science in physics at Auburn University in 1974. In 1977 received a Master of Science in physics and in 1979 a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Virginia in 1979.
Thornton is also a member of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the following honour societies: Sigma Pi Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Xi.
After Dr. Thornton earned her Ph.D. at the University of Virginia in 1979, she was awarded a NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her research at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany. In 1980, she returned to Charlottesville, Virginia, where she was employed as a physicist at the United States Army Foreign Science and Technology Center.
...
Wikipedia