ÂÜÀòÂÒÂ×

Jerry Linenger is a retired astronaut and cosmonaut, having spent 132 harrowing days in space aboard Mir. Perhaps there’s no story more captivating than that of his life-threatening ordeals on the Russian space station. He survived an out-of-control spacecraft tumbling through darkness, low oxygen, the worst fire ever to occur in space and a language barrier with fellow crewmembers who spoke only Russian. All are skills perfectly aligned with finding new approaches to the global freshwater crisis. Jerry graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and proceeded directly to medical school. After completing surgical internship training at Balboa Naval Hospital, San Diego, California, and aerospace medicine training at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute, Pensacola, Florida, he served as a naval flight surgeon at Cubi Point, Republic of the Philippines. He was then assigned as medical advisor to the Commander, Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet, San Diego. After completing doctorate-level training in epidemiology, Linenger returned to San Diego as a research principal investigator at the Naval Health Research Center. He concurrently served as a faculty member at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine in the Division of Sports Medicine. Linenger is board certified in preventive medicine and is the author of Off the Planet, which chronicles his time in space; and Letters from Mir: An Astronaut’s Letters to His Son. Besides his active involvement with Circle of Blue, Jerry is a popular motivator for international audiences, such as the World Economic Forum. He is represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau.