Editing Sally Ride (section)

==Early life==
Sally Kristen Ride was born on May 26, 1951, in the [[Encino, Los Angeles|Encino]] neighborhood of Los Angeles, California,<ref name="ride1" /><ref name="Sherr2014">{{cite book |last1=Sherr |first1=Lynn |author1-link=Lynn Sherr |title=Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space |date=2014 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4767-2578-9 |oclc= 885483468}}</ref>{{rp|p=6}} the elder child of Dale Burdell Ride and Carol Joyce Ride {{née|Anderson}}.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=4–6}} She had one sibling, Karen, known as "Bear".<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=7–8}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boyle |first1=Alan |title=Why Sally Ride waited until her death to tell the world she was gay |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/why-sally-ride-waited-until-her-death-tell-world-she-f908942 |website=Cosmic Log |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505120803/https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/why-sally-ride-waited-until-her-death-tell-world-she-f908942 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=July 25, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Both parents were [[Presbyterian polity#Elder|elders]] in the [[Presbyterian Church]]. Her mother, who was of Norwegian descent, had worked as a volunteer counselor at a women's correctional facility.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |last1=Grady |first1=Denise |title=American Woman Who Shattered Space Ceiling |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/science/space/sally-ride-trailblazing-astronaut-dies-at-61.html |access-date=May 5, 2021 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505105344/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/science/space/sally-ride-trailblazing-astronaut-dies-at-61.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Her father served with the [[U.S. Army]] in Europe with the [[103rd Infantry Division (United States)|103rd Infantry Division]] during [[World War II]]. After the war he went to [[Haverford College]] on the [[G.I. Bill]], earned a master's degree in education at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]],<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=4–6}} and became a political science professor at [[Santa Monica College]].<ref name=obit />

Ride grew up in the [[Van Nuys]] and Encino neighborhoods of Los Angeles. In 1960, when she was nine years old, the family spent a year traveling in Europe. In Spain, Ride played tennis for the first time.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=12–15}} She enjoyed sports, tennis most of all, and at age 10 was coached by [[Alice Marble]], a former world number one player.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pioneering Astronaut Sally Ride Almost Opted For Tennis  |website=[[ThePostGame]] |publisher=[[Yahoo! Sports]] |date=July 23, 2012 |first=Jeff |last=Eisenband |url=http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/throwback/201207/pioneering-astronaut-sally-ride-almost-opted-tennis |access-date=March 4, 2022}}</ref> By 1963 Ride was ranked number 20 in Southern California for girls aged 12 and under.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=22}} She attended Encino Elementary School, Portola Junior High (now [[Portola Middle School (Tarzana)|Portola Middle School]]), [[Birmingham High School]] and then, as a [[sophomore]] on a tennis scholarship, [[Harvard-Westlake|Westlake School for Girls]], an exclusive all-girls private school in Los Angeles.<ref name=obit /><ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=19–22}} Elizabeth Mommaerts, who taught human physiology, became a mentor. Ride resolved to become an [[astrophysicist]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Friend Charts Her Path to Space |last=Okie |first=Susan |date=May 8, 1983 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/05/08/friend-charts-her-path-to-space/3d5ce945-bb6b-4eee-bb4a-0fde7261a718/ |access-date=March 3, 2022}}</ref> She graduated in June 1968, and then took a class in advanced math at Santa Monica College during the summer break.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=30–31}}

Her friend Sue Okie was interested in going to [[Swarthmore College]] in Pennsylvania, so Ride applied too. She was interviewed by [[Fred Hargadon]], the dean of admissions, who was impressed by both her mental and her tennis ability. She was admitted on a full scholarship.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=28–29}} She commenced classes at Swarthmore on September 18, 1968. She played golf, and made Swarthmore's [[field hockey]] [[varsity team]]. She won all six of her intercollegiate tennis matches, and became the Eastern Intercollegiate Women's Singles champion. She defended her title in May 1969, winning in [[straight sets]]. However, Ride was homesick for California, and before [[Title IX]], women's tennis was not well-supported at the college level; Swarthmore had four tennis courts but no indoor courts and she could not practice when it snowed. After three semesters at Swarthmore, she returned to California in January 1970, with the aim of becoming a professional tennis player.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=32–38}}

Ride entered the University of California, Los Angeles, where she enrolled in courses in [[Shakespeare]] and [[quantum mechanics]], earning A's in both subjects. She was the only woman majoring in physics. She was romantically involved with the [[teaching assistant]], John Tompkins, but the relationship ended in September when he went to Moscow to conduct research at the [[Institute for High Energy Physics]]. Her foray into professional tennis was unsuccessful; after playing three matches in a single August morning her whole body ached the following day. She realized that far more effort would be necessary in order to reach the required level of fitness: she needed to practice for eight hours a day. She concluded that she did not have what it took to be a professional tennis player.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=40–42}}

Ride applied for a transfer to [[Stanford University]] as a [[Junior (education year)|junior]]. The tennis coach was eager to have her on the team, and by coincidence, Fred Hargadon was now the dean of admissions there. He was once again instrumental in approving her admission. She graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=44–45}} She then earned a Master of Science degree in physics in 1975 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1978.<ref name="ride1">{{cite web |author1=Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |author1-link=Johnson Space Center |title=Sally K. Ride |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ride_sally.pdf |website=Biographical Data |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505110142/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ride_sally.pdf |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=[[Houston]], Texas |date=July 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Astrophysics and [[free-electron laser]]s were her areas of study.<ref name="forbes20120723">{{cite magazine|last1=Knapp |first1=Alex |title=Sally Ride, First American Woman In Space, Dead At 61 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/07/23/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dead-at-61/?sh=5735638b265d |access-date=July 23, 2012 |magazine=[[Forbes]] |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505121756/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/07/23/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dead-at-61/?sh=5735638b265d |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=Jersey City, New Jersey |url-status=live}}</ref> She wrote her doctoral dissertation on "the interaction of [[X-rays]] with the [[interstellar medium]]",<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Sally |last=Ride |degree=PhD |title=The interaction of X-rays with the interstellar medium |year=1978|publisher=Stanford University |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/734780 |access-date=March 4, 2022}}</ref> under the supervision of [[Arthur B. C. Walker Jr.]]<ref>{{cite magazine |title= Arthur B. C. Walker II: X-ray Astrophysicist |magazine=[[Sky & Telescope]]  |url=https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/famous-astronomers/arthur-b-c-walker-ii-x-ray-astrophysicist/ |first=Ana V. |last=Aceves |date=August 4, 2016 |access-date=March 4, 2022}}</ref>

At Stanford, Ride renewed her acquaintance with Molly Tyson, who was a year younger than her. The two had met on the tennis circuit as junior tennis players. Although Ride was rated number one at Stanford and Tyson was number six, the two played [[doubles (tennis)|doubles]] together. Ride later quit the Stanford tennis team in protest against the university's refusal to join the [[Pac-8 Conference]] in women's tennis.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=45–49}} To earn money Ride and her then-girlfriend Tyson gave tennis lessons, and in 1971 and 1972 they were counselors at [[Dennis Van der Meer]]'s TennisAmerica [[summer camp]] at [[Lake Tahoe, Nevada]]. In August 1972, Ride played in a doubles match with Van der Meer against [[Billie Jean King]], the [[world number 1 ranked female tennis players|world number 1 ranked female tennis player]], and Dick Peters, the camp director; [[Martin Luther King III]] and [[Dexter King]] served as [[ball boys]]. Billie Jean King became a mentor and a friend. Ride watched her win the [[Battle of the Sexes (tennis)|Battle of the Sexes]] match against [[Bobby Riggs]] in 1973. Tyson ended their relationship in 1975, and Ride moved in with Bill Colson, a fellow graduate physics student who was recently divorced.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=54–60}}