Tam Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy (born January 27, 1952) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, associate professor emeritus of school psychology, and former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. She co-founded the

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

company

Sally Ride Science Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego is a nonprofit run by the University of California, San Diego. It was founded as a company in 2001 by Sally Ride, America's first woman in space, along with Tam O'Shaughnessy, Karen Flammer, Terry McEntee, and ...

together with her life partner, astronaut

Sally Ride Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, after cosmonauts V ...

the first American woman and third woman in

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

. The company was relaunched as a nonprofit entity, Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego, on October 1, 2015. O'Shaughnessy serves as executive director.

Childhood and pro tennis career

O'Shaughnessy was born in

San Andreas, California San Andreas ( Californio Spanish for "St. Andrew") is an unincorporated census-designated place and the county seat of Calaveras County, California. The population was 2,994 at the 2020 census, up from 2,783 at the 2010 census. Like most town ...

, and attended Troy High School in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and S ...

, where she was active in tennis. As a junior player, she was coached by

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

Tennis

O'Shaughnessy went on to play on the women's professional tennis circuit from 1971 to 1974. She competed in the U.S. National Championships (now known as the U.S. Open) in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

. O'Shaughnessy was coached by Dr. Robert Walter Johnson, a physician who played a key role in the tennis careers of

Althea Gibson Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African America ...

and

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...

. Johnson was an official of the

American Tennis Association The American Tennis Association (ATA) is based in Largo, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., and is the oldest African-American sports organization in the United States. The core of the ATA's modern mission continues to be promoting tennis as a ...

(ATA), an organization that promotes tennis for

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

but welcomed players of all backgrounds. During the summer of 1966, O'Shaughnessy, who is not African American, competed in ATA tournaments in addition to U.S. Tennis Association junior events. She won the ATA national 18-and-under championship, and so was automatically entered into the U.S. National Championship draw. O'Shaughnessy also competed in the

1972 Wimbledon Championships The 1972 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was scheduled to be held from Monday 26 June ...

. During her tennis career, she was

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

as high as No. 52 in the world in women's singles by the

Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. The association governs the WTA Tour, which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women, and was founded to create a better future fo ...

and as high as No. 6 in the U.S. in women's doubles (with Ann Lebedeff) by the USTA. O'Shaughnessy won national hard-court doubles titles in the junior division (with Ann Lebedeff) and in the women's division (with

Pam Austin Pamela Austin (born March 12, 1950) is an Americans, American former professional sports, professional tennis player (game), player. College career Austin played college tennis at UCLA Bruins#Tennis, UCLA and won a Pacific-8 Conference doubles ...

). After retiring from tennis, O'Shaughnessy was the founding publisher of the Women's Tennis Association newsletter for several years before going to college to study biology.

Science educator

O'Shaughnessy earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in biology from

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

and a Ph.D. in

school psychology School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and ado ...

from the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

. She was assistant professor of school psychology at Georgia State University from 1998 through 2001, and then associate professor of school psychology at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

from 2002 until 2007. O'Shaughnessy's research on preventive interventions for children with reading difficulties was continuously funded by the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...

starting in graduate school. She retired early to concentrate on

, and was named associate professor emeritus at

. O'Shaughnessy has extensive experience cultivating girls' and boys' interest in reading, math, and science. Besides being a former science teacher, O'Shaughnessy has written 12 children's science books, including six with Sally Ride. They received the

American Institute of Physics The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...

Children's Science Writing Award in 1995 for their second book, ''The Third Planet: Exploring the Earth From Space''. In October 2015, O'Shaughnessy published a children's biography of Ride, ''Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America's Pioneering Woman in Space''. The book combines reminiscences from Ride's family and friends with photos, including many family and personal photos. As a scientist and educator, O'Shaughnessy became deeply concerned about the underrepresentation of women in science and technical professions. Research shows that young girls like science and have the same aptitude for it as boys, but in adolescence, girls tend to drift away from science, in part because of subtle

gender stereotypes A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...

and lack of

role models ''Role Models'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by David Wain, who co-wrote it with Timothy Dowling, Paul Rudd and Ken Marino. The film stars Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Jane Lynch, and ...

. In 2001, Ride, O'Shaughnessy, and three like-minded friends—Karen Flammer, Terry McEntee, and Alann Lopes—founded Sally Ride Science with the goal of narrowing the gender gap in science. From 2001 to 2015, O'Shaughnessy served as the company's

Chief Creative Officer The title Chief Creative Officer (CCO) typically describes the highest-ranking position of a creative team within a media company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, ...

, overseeing all content—books, websites, and teacher training curricula. She guided the creation of the ''Cool Careers in

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

'' and ''Key Concepts in Science'' programs, which combine professional development for teachers with student books and teacher guides. O'Shaughnessy also served as chief operating officer of Sally Ride Science from 2009 through 2013, chairman of the board of directors from 2013 to 2015, and chief executive officer from 2014 to 2015. Sally Ride Science was acquired by the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, in October 2015. O'Shaughnessy is since executive director of the resulting nonprofit entity, Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego.

Personal life

O'Shaughnessy is a lesbian and was the romantic partner of NASA astronaut

from 1985 until Ride's death in 2012.

Selected publications

* Tam O'Shaughnessy (2015). ''Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America's Pioneering Woman in Space''. Roaring Brook Press, * Sally Ride, Tam O'Shaughnessy (2009). ''Mission: Planet Earth: Our World and Its Climate—And How Humans Are Changing Them''. Random House Children's Books, * Sally Ride, Tam O'Shaughnessy (2009). ''Mission: Save the Planet: Things YOU Can Do to Help Fight Global Warming!'' Random House Children's Books, * Sally Ride, Tam O'Shaughnessy (2003). ''Exploring Our Solar System''. Random House Children's Books, * Sally Ride, Tam O'Shaughnessy (1999, 2006). ''The Mystery of Mars''. Random House Children's Books, * Sally Ride, Tam O'Shaughnessy (1994, 2004). ''The Third Planet: Exploring the Earth from Space''. Random House Children's Books, * Sally Ride, Tam O'Shaughnessy (1992, 2005). ''Voyager: An Adventure to the Edge of the Solar System''. Random House Children's Books, * Tam O'Shaughnessy (2010). ''Cool Careers in Engineering''. Sally Ride Science. * Tam O'Shaughnessy (2008). ''Cool Careers in Earth Sciences'', Sally Ride Science, * Tam O'Shaughnessy (2008). ''Ecosystems''. Sally Ride Science, * Tam O'Shaughnessy (2006). ''The Inside Story of Earth''. Sally Ride Science, * Tam E. O'Shaughnessy, Kathleen L. Lane, Frank M. Gresham, Margaret E. Beebe-Frankenberger (2003). "Children Placed at Risk for Learning and Behavioral Difficulties". ''Remedial and Special Education'', doi: 10.1177/074193250302400103 * Kathleen L. Lane, Frank M. Gresham, and Tam E. O'Shaughnessy (2002). "The Efficacy of Phonological Awareness Training with First-Grade Students Who Have Behavior Problems and Reading Difficulties". ''Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders'', doi: 10.1177/106342660100900402 * Kathleen L. Lane, Frank M. Gresham, and Tam E. O'Shaughnessy (2002). ''Interventions for Children With or At-Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders''. Pearson, * Tam E. O'Shaughnessy (2000). "A Comparison of Two Reading Interventions for Children with Reading Disabilities". ''Journal of Learning Disabilities'', doi: 10.1177/002221940003300304

References

External links

Tam O'Shaughnessy
{{DEFAULTSORT:OShaughnessy, Tam 1952 births 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American women writers American female tennis players 20th-century American psychologists 21st-century American psychologists American women children's writers American children's writers American women psychologists Georgia State University alumni LGBTQ people from California American LGBTQ scientists LGBTQ tennis players Living people People from San Andreas, California Sally Ride San Diego State University faculty Scientists from California Tennis players from California University of California, Riverside alumni American lesbian sportswomen American lesbian writers Lesbian scientists LGBTQ psychologists Troy High School (California) alumni Sportspeople from Fullerton, California