Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (1935– ), born in Waco, Texas, was first elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Texas's 30th congressional district, in 1992. Every two years from that time to 2018, she was reelected to the Congress, where, in 2010, she was elected to become the first African American and the first woman ranking member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Early in the 21st century, she was the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. She has long emphasized the need to invest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. She is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She graduated from Notre Dame University's St. Mary's College School of Nursing and earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from Texas Christian University. In 1972, after working as a psychiatric nurse at the VA Hospital in Dallas, she became the first nurse ever elected to the Texas State House and later the first nurse to be elected to the Texas State Senate and the U.S. Congress. While serving in the Texas State House, she earned a master's degree in public administration from Southern Methodist University.