Dr Sally Ride made history in 1983 as the first American woman and the first recorded LGBTQIA+ person to travel in space. After retiring from NASA, Sally worked with universities, co-wrote seven science books, and directed educational programs to foster student interest in STEM. She also co-founded @sallyridescienceatucsandiego with her partner and friends.
Dr. Lauren Esposito is an arachnologist and is considered a foremost expert on scorpions. Dr. Esposito is also cofounder of @islandsseas and @500queerscientists. Check out her ted talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQuKFyFPO8c
Dr. Ben Barres was the first openly transgender member of the national Academy of Sciences. His work studying glia cells helped us to understand more about how the human brain works. He was a strong advocate for women and the LQBTQIA+ Community in science. Learn more about his life here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07109-2
Alan Turing was a pioneering mathematician and logician. During World War II, Alan Turing played a crucial role in code-breaking messages to provide the Allies with military intelligence. After the war, he worked with the University of Manchester to develop the world’s first working electronic stored-program digital computer and wrote the first-ever programming manual. Today, Alan Turing is widely regarded as the father of modern computer science.
