Rona Ramon ( he, רונה רמון; 16 April 1964 – 17 December 2018) was a public activist,

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 ...

influencer and supporter of the education and advancement of youth in Israel. Ramon was the widow of Colonel Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

, who died in the

Space Shuttle Columbia disaster The Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster was a fatal accident in the United States space program that occurred on February 1, 2003. During the STS-107 mission, Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texa ...

in 2003. She was the mother of Captain

Assaf Ramon Ilan Ramon ( he, אילן רמון; , born Ilan Wolfferman ; June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003) was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut. Ramon was a Space Shuttle payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission of ...

, a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force who was killed in a training accident on 13 September 2009. After the death of her husband and son, she established the Ramon Foundation which works with Israeli children with academic excellence to pursue their dreams.

Biography

Rona was born in Kiryat Ono, on 16 April 1964, to Israel and Gila Bar-Siman-Tov. Her parents emigrated from Turkey as part of the Youth Aliyah when they were 15 years old. As a youth, Rona volunteered in the Scouts movement. She served as a paramedic during her army service. Rona met Ilan Ramon at the age of 22. They were married in 1986 and they had four children. In 1997 Ilan Ramon was chosen as the first Israeli astronaut, and the family moved to Houston, in 1998, as part of the astronaut training and the preparations for STS-107. Ramon was a holistic therapist, and gave lectures on the subject. She had a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from the Wingate Institute and a master's degree in holistic therapy from Lesley University in Massachusetts. She provided lectures, workshops and individual treatments on coping with crisis. Following the

, Ramon created the Ramon Foundation, promoting education and leadership to youth around Israel, providing scholarships and opportunities. Another program of the Ramon Foundation, the Ramon Spacelab, allows teams of students to submit an experiment to the International Space Station. Ramon also helped found Israel's annual Space Week, the last week of January. It stages numerous events promote STEM education. Astronauts and Space Agency representatives come to participate in these events, as well as attending the Annual International Ilan Ramon Conference. As part of Israel's 68th Independence Day celebrations, she held a torch at the annual torch lighting ceremony at Mount Herzl. In June 2018 she was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Technion, in recognition of her many years of work and contribution to Israeli Society. She died at the age of 54 after a long battle with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

References

External links

Like a phoenix- how I rose from the ashes: Rona Ramon at TEDxHIT
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramon, Rona 1964 births 2018 deaths Place of death missing People from Kiryat Ono Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Israel Israeli women activists Education activists Space advocates Israeli expatriates in the United States Israel Prize women recipients Wingate Institute alumni Lesley University alumni Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent