Scott Parazynski

Scott Parazynski’s Background

Dr. Scott Parazynski is an expert in leadership under adversity, and deriving the very best from multidisiplinary teams. He has spoken all over the world about the rigors, risks and rewards of exploration in extreme environments, deriving important lessons in teamwork, risk management and innovation under the most demanding circumstances, on or off the planet. Your audience will be left breathless but empowered with real-world tools to elevate their organization in an increasingly competitive world.

Among his many presentations, he has:

• Delivered hundreds of keynotes to corporate leaders, industry and scientific conventions, and major non-profit organizations
• Presented Medical Grand Rounds at some of the world’s most prestigious medical schools, hospitals and conferences
• Appeared on all major US broadcast networks as well as many overseas TV networks, discussing various aspects of the space program, the importance of exploration, STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and technological innovation
• Filmed as team physician and summit climber during Discovery Channel’s 3rd season of “Everest: Beyond the Limit,” as well as the Science Channel’s “Secret Space Escapes.”

Scott has lived and traveled all over the world, spending many of his grade school and high school years in places such as Dakar, Senegal; Beirut, Lebanon; Tehran, Iran; and Athens, Greece. A graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Medical School, he went on to train at Harvard and in Denver in preparation for a career in emergency medicine and trauma. Dr. Parazynski has numerous publications in the field of space physiology with particular expertise in human adaptation to stressful environments.

In 1992 he was selected to join NASA’s Astronaut Corps and eventually flew 5 Space Shuttle Missions and conducted 7 spacewalks (“Extravehicular Activity,” or EVAs). In his 17 years as an Astronaut, he served in numerous senior leadership roles, including EVA Branch Chief and the Lead Astronaut for Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System Inspection & Repair (in the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy). Mission highlights include a global ozone mapping mission on STS-66; leading the first joint US-Russian spacewalk during STS-86 while docked to the Russian space station Mir; serving as Senator John Glenn’s crewmate and “personal physician” during STS-95; and conducting EVA assembly of the Canadian-built space station arm during STS-100.

In October 2007, Scott led the EVA team on STS-120, a highly complex space station assembly flight, during which he performed 4 EVAs (becoming only the second astronaut to perform four EVAs on a single Space Shuttle mission). The fourth and final EVA is regarded by many as one of the most challenging and dangerous ever performed.

During the EVA he was positioned by a 90-foot robotic boom farther than any orbiting astronaut had ever ventured from the safety of their airlock. During this EVA he had to repair a fully energized solar array wing. The tremendous coordinated effort in orbit and on the ground by Mission Control and other engineering experts has been likened to the Space Shuttle and Space Station era’s “Apollo 13 moment.”

In addition to being a life-long SCUBA diver and accomplished mountaineer, Scott is also a commercial, instrument, multiengine and seaplane-rated pilot with over 2,500 flight hours. He began climbing in his teens, and has climbed in the Alaska Range, the Cascades, the Rockies, the Alps, the Andes and the Himalayas. On his second attempt to scale Mt. Everest, on May 20, 2009, he became the first astronaut to stand on top of the world. Further, as part of a NASA-sponsored expedition to the high Andes, he conducted a scientific dive in the summit caldera lake of 19,700-foot Licancabur volcano, the world’s highest lake.

He recently served as Founding Director and Chief Medical Officer of UTMB’s Center for Polar Medical Operations where he oversaw the medical screening and on-ice care of the National Science Foundation’s US Antarctic Program, and was fortunate to travel widely across the most remote continent on earth.

Dr. Parazynski is currently Founder and CEO of Fluidity Technologies, developing revolutionary robotic controls powered by artificial intelligence, derived from his experiences as a pilot and astronaut. He is a prolific inventor and product developer, and serves on the Boards of several organizations and companies.

He is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including: the US Astronaut Hall of Fame, five NASA Spaceflight Medals, two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, two NASA Exceptional Service Medals, two Vladimir Komarov Diplomas from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, two Flight Achievement Awards from the American Astronomical Association, the Aviation Week Laureate Award, the Antarctica Service Medal, the Ellis Island Family Heritage Award, the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Polish Culture, the National Eagle Scout Association’s Outstanding Eagle Award, the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and the Lowell Thomas Award from the Explorers Club.

A Top 10 competitor in the 1988 US Olympic Luge Team trials and coach for the Philippines during the 1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games, he was selected as an Honorary Captain of the 2010 US Olympic Luge Team for the Vancouver Games. Additionally, he is a member of the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame and was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Military University of Technology in Warsaw, Poland.

Scott is the author of his #1 best-selling memoir, The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space and Speed, along with collaborative writer Susy Flory.