Birthday: Oct. 17, 1956.
Birthplace: Decatur, Ala., raised in Chicago.
Occupation: Teacher, scientist, physician and businesswoman.
Current homes: Houston, Texas, Hanover, N.H., and airplanes.
Marital status: Single.
Cars: A 1995 army drab Landrover.
Working on: I’m one of the hosts of “Susan B. Anthony Slept Here,” airing Saturday on ABC-TV; I’m on the faculty at Dartmouth College; I sponsor a science camp; and I run a company.
The last good movie I saw: “Apollo 13.”
Favorite childhood memory: Making mud pies, then getting cleaned up and walking to my cousin’s house with my mother.
Prized possession: A picture of my mother when she was 26.
I’m better than anyone else when it comes to: I don’t judge myself.
If I could do it over I’d: Take music lessons.
A really great evening to me is: A lot of hard aerobic exercise and weight lifting, then a massage and sleep.
My fantasy is: I’m thousands of light years away on another planet.
The one thing I can’t stand: People who are sure their perception of reality is the only one.
If I could change one thing about myself: I wouldn’t procrastinate as much.
The worst time of my life: When I had to reevaluate a relationship that was no longer working.
If I’ve learned one thing in life it’s: Don’t push the river. It flows by itself.
Major accomplishment: Getting over not liking heights.
Most humbling experience: When I came home from college, freshman year, I was having trouble with a calculus problem. My father never went to college, but he had always been good in math, so my mother told me to ask his help. I was a smart-ass kid and I didn’t think he could, but he helped me frame the problem in a way that allowed me to solve it.
The words that best describe me: Optimistic, persistent and realistic idealist.
