Nitza Margarita Cintrón (born 1950) is a Puerto Rican scientist and former Chief of Space Medicine and Health Care Systems Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center. She currently works at the University of Texas in the Galveston Medical Branch as faculty in the Department of Internal Medicine.

Early years

Cintrón was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a child, she lived throughout Europe, while her father served in the U.S. Army. When her father retired, they returned to Puerto Rico and settled down in Santurce, a San Juan barrio. There she attended elementary and high school, where she excelled in science and mathematics. She read and studied biology, chemistry, astronomy and space.

Nitza Cintrón earned a bachelor's degree in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico. In 1972 she was accepted into the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology training program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and in 1978 she earned a Ph.D. degree there. In 1978, Cintrón read a recruitment announcement for the first mission specialist positions in the Astronaut Corps while completing her PhD research. She applied and went to Houston as a finalist, but initially did not make it after undergoing exams due to her poor eyesight. However, her academic credentials impressed NASA management and she was offered a position as a scientist by Dr. Carolyn Huntoon.

Career

In 1979, Cintrón was the originator of the Biochemistry Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center. From 1979 through 1985, she served as project scientist for the Space Lab 2 mission that was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1985.

Among the positions held by Cintrón at NASA are "Chief of the Biomedical Operations and Research Branch in the Medical Science Division"

Recognition

Cintrón received many awards and honors.

  • JSC Director's Commendation and Innovation Award - the center's highest award for a civil servants
  • NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, the highest science honor given by the agency.
  • Hispanic Engineer's National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC) Hall of Fame (2004).
  • 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States by Hispanic magazine (2006).

See also

  • List of Puerto Ricans
  • Puerto Rican scientists and inventors
  • List of Puerto Ricans in the United States Space Program
  • History of women in Puerto Rico

References

  • latina Women of NASA