Tam O'Shaughnessy
American educator, writer and former tennis player (born 1952)
Tam Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy (born January 27, 1952) is an American children's science writer, associate professor emeritus of school psychology, and former professional tennis player. She co-founded the science education company Sally Ride Science together with her life partner, astronaut Sally Ride – the third woman and first American woman in space.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Tam O'Shaughnessy (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Jan 27, 1952.1
About
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.
From Wikipedia’s article on Tam O'Shaughnessy, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Sally Ride ScienceChief executive officer9
Early life and education
- Date not recordedGeorgia State University Bachelor of Science; biology3
- Date not recordedGeorgia State University Master of Science; biology3
- Date not recordedTroy High School3
- Date not recordedUniversity of California, Riverside Doctor of Philosophy; school psychology3
O'Shaughnessy was born in San Andreas, California, and attended Troy High School in Fullerton, California, where she was active in tennis. As a junior player, she was coached by Billie Jean King.
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, 1970, and 1972.
O'Shaughnessy was coached by Dr. Robert Walter Johnson, a physician who played a key role in the tennis careers of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe. Johnson was an official of the American Tennis Association (ATA), an organization that promotes tennis for African Americans 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. During her tennis career, she was ranked as high as No. 52 in the world in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association 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).
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.
From Wikipedia’s article on Tam O'Shaughnessy (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: children's writer, businessperson, science writer, psychologist, university teacher, writer, tennis player.5
- 2002 to 2007Associate professor, San Diego State University4
- 1998 to 2001Assistant professor, Georgia State University4
- Date not recordedChief executive officer, Sally Ride Science4
Personal life
O'Shaughnessy was the romantic partner of NASA astronaut Sally Ride from 1985 until Ride died in 2012.
Their relationship was not revealed until after Ride's death.
From Wikipedia’s article on Tam O'Shaughnessy (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataTam O'Shaughnessy on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaTam O'Shaughnessy on Wikipedia
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- 10Wikimedia CommonsTam O'Shaughnessy photo by Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0