Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., (1935-1967)

United States Air Force Major Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., was the first African American chosen by NASA to be an astronaut. He was born in Chicago on 2 October 1935 and graduated from Englewood High School at age 16. He earned a Bachelor's degree in chemistry from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, in 1956, serving as Cadet Commander of the Bradley Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps while in school. Upon graduation he accepted a commission as Second Lieutenant in the USAF Reserve and began flight training with the Air Force. He became an Air Force aviator at the age of 21 upon completion of his training.

Lawrence completed a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at The Ohio State University in August 1965. His doctoral dissertation concerned the chemical conversion of tritium rays to methane gas. He was soon assigned as a research scientist at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirkland AFB, New Mexico.

Lawrence was a senior USAF pilot, accumulating well over 2,500 flight hours--2,000 of which was in jets. Major Lawrence flew many tests in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to investigate the gliding flight of various unpowered spacecraft returning to Earth from orbit, such as the North American X-15 rocket-plane. His research was instrumental in proving the steep-descent gliding concept that would later be employed with the Space Shuttle.

In June 1967 Lawrence successfully completed the Air Force Flight Test Pilot Training School at Edwards AFB, California. That same month he was selected by NASA as an astronaut in the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program, thus becoming the first African American astronaut. The MOL project would eventually lead to today's International Space Station.

Major Lawrence was killed on 8 December 1967 in the crash of an F-104 at Edwards AFB. He was flying backseat on the mission as the instructor pilot for a flight test trainee learning the steep-descent glide technique. The pilot of the aircraft successfully ejected and survived the accident, but with major injuries. During his brief career, Major Lawrence earned the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Citation. After many years of relative obscurity, his achievements, dedication, and sacrifices for the nation were finally recognized on 8 December 1997, when his name was inscribed on the Astronaut Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In further tribute to his life and work, The Ohio State University formally dedicated its new chemistry building's largest lecture hall as the "Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., Lecture Hall" on 21 January 2000.