Prinz, Dianne Kasnic

Dianne Kasnic Prinz

Class of 1956

Dianne Kasnic Prinz is a 1956 graduate of Ambridge Area High School.  She won scholarships to the University of Pittsburgh, where she received a bachelor’s degree in physics.  She later received a doctorate in physics from Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Kasnic Prinz was a space scientist for the Naval Research Laboratory.  In the 1970’s, Dr. Prinz was the first woman selected to be trained as a payload specialist by NASA and was scheduled to be sent into space before her flight was canceled after the 1986 Challenger explosion.  She worked in a field dominated by men.  In the early 1970’s, when she was an official involved in a satellite launch at the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico, Dr. Prinz had to improvise, because there were no women’s restrooms.

Her awards include a Navy Award of Merit for Group Achievement, the NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award and the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award.  Dr. Prinz volunteered for the Navy Community Outreach Program and gave lectures about space research in her NASA flight suit at schools in the Washington area.