Aimee Mullins

Aimee Mullins was a stand out student in the second grade; she kept a consistent appointment in the Principal's office 4 times per week.  She loved painting and sculpting and was rewarded with a lesson in how to forge her 7th grade teacher's signature in order to get out of study halls to come to the art room.  She had straight A's most of her life until she failed journalism class junior year of high school for never turning in a paper, but managed to utilize those art skills to make the "F" look like a "B" on the report card, thus ensuring her parental permission to attend her junior prom.  Her date picked her up on a Harley.  Aimee spends her free time memorizing the soliloquies of William Shakespeare's Hamlet and attempting to cook the cuisine of the Lebanese/Syrian borderlands.  Her favorite color is blue. Traditional Bio: Aimee first received worldwide media attention as an athlete. Born without fibulae in both legs, doctors amputated both her legs below the knee on her first birthday. After graduating high school with honors, Aimee was one of three students in the US chosen for a full academic scholarship from the Department of Defense, and at age 17 became the youngest person to hold a top-secret security clearance at the Pentagon. While a dean's list student in Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and member of Georgetown’s nationally-ranked Track and Field program, she set her sights on making the US Team for the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics Games. With the help of Georgetown Track Coach Frank Gagliano, she became the first woman with a "disability" to compete in the NCAA. Outfitted with woven carbon-fiber prostheses that were modeled after the hind legs of a cheetah, she went on to set World Records in the 100 meter, the 200 meter, and the long jump, sparking frenzy over the radical design of her prototype sprinting legs. After a spread in Life magazine showcased her in the starting blocks at Atlanta, the world took notice. Aimee landed a 10-page feature in the inaugural issue of Sports Illustrated for Women, which led to her accepting numerous invitations to speak at international design conferences. In 1999, Aimee made her runway debut in London at the invitation of one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Alexander McQueen. Walking alongside the supermodels of the world, Aimee's groundbreaking, triumphant turn captured the attention of the fashion media, propelling her onto magazine covers and being named as one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World." Aimee has received accolades for her work as an actor, including in the critically-acclaimed film by contemporary artist Matthew Barney, Cremaster 3, which was released in 2003. Aimee's recent films include Quid Pro Quo and the upcoming Into the Woods, scheduled for theatrical release in 2009. Aimee serves on numerous boards, including Just One Break and the Women's Sports Foundation. Aimee serves as Vice-President for J.O.B., the nation's oldest non-profit employment service for persons with disabilities, and as Trustee and President for the WSF, a position she will steward through 2009. Aimee has been immortalized in exhibits at institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the NCAA Hall of Fame, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate Modern, the Track and Field Hall of Fame, and the Women's Museum, where she is honored for her contribution to sport among the "Greatest American Women of the 20th Century." She resides in New York City.