\n One of the first six women selected for NASA’s astronaut corps, Dr Sullivan made history in 1984 when she became the first American woman to complete a spacewalk.\n<\/p>\n
\n During her 15-year career with NASA, she flew on three space shuttle missions.\n<\/p>\n
\n In 2020, she added another world first by becoming the first woman to reach the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the world’s oceans.\n<\/p>\n
\n She remains the only person to have both travelled into space and descended to the deepest point on Earth.\n<\/p>\n
\n Following her NASA career, Dr Sullivan held a number of senior leadership roles in science, including serving as chief scientist and later administrator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under President Barack Obama.\n<\/p>\n
\n She has also served as president and chief executive of the Center of Science and Industry.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dr Sullivan visited the University of Edinburgh in 2025, where she toured the Edinburgh Space Hub at the Bayes Centre, which brings together researchers and industry partners to advance space technology.\n<\/p>\n
\n She is one of 16 people receiving honorary degrees during the university’s summer graduation ceremonies, which run from July 1 to 14.\n<\/p>\n