Dana Bolles is an American spaceflight engineer and advocate for those with disabilities in

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

. She has worked at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

since 1995 in a variety of fields. She is also an ambassador for the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

's If/then initiative.

Early life and education

Bolles was born without arms or legs. She has stated that she became interested in visiting space at an early age since it would allow her to move without the assistance of her wheelchair. Bolles earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in mechanical engineering from

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

in 1993, and has a master's degree in rehabilitation engineering and technology from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

Career

Bolles started working at NASA in 1995 as an engineer in regulatory compliance, including work on environmental regulations. This later expanded to work in protecting humans in outer space and scientific communications. She also volunteers as an advocate for women, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBT community. Her advocacy has a particular focus on the challenges that people with disabilities encounter in their lives, and has spoken about the stereotypes they often face, mentioning that people tend to respond the most to disability compared to other intersectionalities. In 2021 Bolles joined a group of people with physical disabilities in a zero gravity parabolic flight. Bolles was one of the women depicted in the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's 2022 exhibit spotlighting women in STEM.

Awards and recognition

NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal The NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal is an award given to both government employees and non-government personnel for outstanding achievement and material contribution to the goals of NASA’s Equal Employment Opportunity Programs either wi ...

(2014)

References

External links

Interview, Gravity Assist: Breaking Barriers, with Dana Bolles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolles, Dana Living people Year of birth missing (living people) California State University, Long Beach alumni San Francisco State University alumni American disability rights activists Mechanical engineers Scientists with disabilities Wheelchair users NASA people American Association for the Advancement of Science