Seddon, Rhea

A veteran of three space shuttle flights, Dr. Rhea Seddon, Lambda, University of Califorrnia, Berkeley, is a physician and retired astronaut.

Rhea Seddon was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on November 8, 1947. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a member of Lambda chapter and graduated with a B.A. in physiology. In 1973, she received a doctorate of medicine from the University of Tennessee. As a young physician, Dr. Seddon worked as an Emergency Department doctor, a surgeon, and performed clinical research into the effects of radiation therapy on nutrition in cancer patients.

In 1978, Dr. Seddon was selected as one of the first six women to enter the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Astronaut Program. She served as a Mission Specialist on flights aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985 and on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1991 and as a Payload Commander in charge of all science activities on her final flight on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1993. Dr. Seddon has spent a total of 30 days in space.

Leaving NASA after 19 years in 1997, Dr. Seddon became the Assistant Chief Medical Officer of the Vanderbilt Medical Group in Nashville, a position she held for 11 years. There, she used her NASA training to lead an initiative to improve patient safety, quality of care, and team effectiveness through the use of an aviation-based model of Crew Resource Management. Now with LifeWings Partners, LLC she teaches this concept to healthcare institutions across the country.