Nationality American | ||
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Born January 27, 1952 (age 65) ( 1952-01-27 ) San Andreas, California, U.S. Occupation Writer, Science educator Partner Sally Ride (1985–2012; Ride's death) Alma maters Troy High School, Georgia State University, University of California, Riverside Books Sally Ride: A Photobio, Mission: Planet Earth: Ou, Exploring Our Solar System, Voyager: An Adventur, The Third Planet: Exploring Similar Sally Ride, Steven Hawley, Kathryn D Sullivan, Judith Resnik, Valentina Tereshkova | ||
Tam Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy (born January 27, 1952) is an American children’s science writer, former professional tennis player and co-founder of the science education company Sally Ride Science. The company was relaunched as a nonprofit entity, Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego, on October 1, 2015. O’Shaughnessy serves as executive director.
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Early years
O'Shaughnessy was born in San Andreas, California and attended Troy High School in Fullerton, California, where she was active in tennis. As a junior player, she was coached by Billie Jean King.
Tennis
O’Shaughnessy went on to play on the women's professional tennis circuit from 1971 to 1974. She competed in the U.S. National Championships (now known as the U.S. Open) in 1966, 1970, and 1972. Her entry into the 1966 U.S. National Championships at the age of 14 came about by serendipity.
O’Shaughnessy was being coached by Dr. Robert Walter Johnson, a physician who played a key role in the tennis careers of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe. Johnson was an official of the American Tennis Association (ATA), an organization that promotes tennis for African-Americans but welcomes players of all backgrounds. During the summer of 1966, O’Shaughnessy, who is not African-American, competed in ATA tournaments in addition to U.S. Tennis Association junior events. O’Shaughnessy won the ATA national 18-and-under championship and so was automatically entered in the U.S. National Championship draw.
O’Shaughnessy also competed in the 1972 Wimbledon Championships. During her tennis career, she was ranked as high as No. 52 in the world in women’s singles by the Women’s Tennis Association and as high as No. 3 in the U.S. in women’s doubles (with Ann Lebedeff) by the USTA. O’Shaughnessy won national hard-court doubles titles in the junior division (with Ann Lebedeff) and in the women’s division (with Pam Austin).
After retiring from tennis, O’Shaughnessy was the founding publisher of the Women’s Tennis Association newsletter for several years before going to college to study biology.
Science educator
O’Shaughnessy earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in biology from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in school psychology from the University of California, Riverside. She was assistant professor of school psychology at Georgia State University from 1998 to 2001, and then associate professor of school psychology at San Diego State University from 2002 until 2007. O’Shaughnessy’s research on preventive interventions for children with reading difficulties was continuously funded by the U.S. Department of Education starting in graduate school. She retired early to devote her time and energy to Sally Ride Science, and was named associate professor emeritus at San Diego State University.
O’Shaughnessy has extensive experience cultivating girls' and boys' interest in reading, math, and science. Besides being a former science teacher, she is an award-winning writer of science books for children. O’Shaughnessy has written 12 children’s science books, including six with Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. Ride and O’Shaughnessy’s clear and eloquent writing style earned them many accolades, including the American Institute of Physics Children's Science Writing Award in 1995 for their second book, The Third Planet: Exploring the Earth From Space. In October 2015, O’Shaughnessy published a children’s biography of Ride, Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America’s Pioneering Woman in Space. The book combines reminiscences from Ride’s family and friends with dozens of photos, including many never-before-published family and personal photos.
As a scientist and educator, O’Shaughnessy became deeply concerned about the underrepresentation of women in science and technical professions. Research shows that young girls like science and have the same aptitude for it as boys, but in adolescence, girls tend to drift away from science, in part because of subtle stereotypes and lack of role models. In 2001, Ride, O’Shaughnessy, and three like-minded friends – Karen Flammer, Terry McEntee, and Alann Lopes – founded Sally Ride Science with the goal of narrowing the gender gap in science.
From 2001-2015, O’Shaughnessy served as the company’s chief creative officer, overseeing all content – books, websites, and teacher training curricula. She guided the creation of the Cool Careers in STEM and Key Concepts in Science programs, which combine professional development for teachers with student books and teacher guides. O’Shaughnessy also served as chief operating officer of Sally Ride Science from 2009-2013, chair of the Board of Directors from 2013-2015, and chief executive officer from 2014-2015.
Sally Ride Science was acquired by the University of California, San Diego, in October 2015. O’Shaughnessy is executive director of the resulting nonprofit entity, Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego, which will create new educational programs and make use of existing Sally Ride Science programs.
Personal life
O’Shaughnessy was the life partner of astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, from 1985 until Ride’s death in 2012. O’Shaughnessy and Ride also were business partners in Sally Ride Science, and they wrote children's science books together.