BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " IRENE D. LONG " IS A PHYSICIAN AND WAS AN OFFICIAL AT THE U.S. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION : GOES INTO THE "" HALL OF BLACK HEROES "

          BLACK   SOCIAL  HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Irene D. Long

Dr. Irene D. Long at work

Irene Duhart Long (born November 16, 1950) is an American physician and was an official at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. She was the first female Chief Medical Officer at the Kennedy Space Center.

Long was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Andrew and Heloweise Davis Duhart. She graduated from East High School in Cleveland, and in 1973, she received her bachelor's degree in Biology from Northwestern University. In 1977, Long received her medical degree from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine followed by residencies at the Cleveland Clinic, Mt. Sinai Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, where she received her Masters of Science degree in aerospace medicine.^[1]

In 1982 Long went to work for NASA as a physician.^[2] In 1994, she was appointed director of the Biomedical Operations and Research Office at the Kennedy Space Center.^[3] In 2000, she was appointed as Chief Medical Officer and Associate Director of Spaceport Services at the Kennedy Space Center. She retired, and David Tipton assumed the duties as Chief Medical Officer in 2013.^[4]

Awards

• 1986 - Kennedy Space Center Federal Woman of the Year Award
• 1995 - Society of NASA Flight Surgeons Presidential Award
• 1998 - Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award
• 2001 - Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame
• 2005 - Lifetime Achievement Award, Women of Color Technology Awards Conference^[5]
• 2010 - Strughold Award, Space Medicine Association^[6]