Theresa Mae Claiborne was born to Wayne Morris Sr. and Dorothy Claiborne in Emporia, Virginia. The Claiborne’s family military background afforded the family the opportunity to travel to many locations. Theresa graduated with honors from Elk Grove Senior High School in Elk Grove, California. She then attended California State University, Sacramento where she majored in Communication, Culture, and Media and graduated from the institution in 1981. Claiborne completed the University of California-Berkeley Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) program and was commissioned as a United States Air Force second lieutenant on June 20, 1981. After completing her Pilot Training at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas, now Lt. Claiborne graduated as the first African American female pilot in the United States Air Force on September 16, 1982. During Claiborne’s active-duty years, she rose in rank to Captain and served as a KC 135 pilot at Loring Air Force Base, Maine. Captain Claiborne finished active-duty service in September 1988 but continued with the United States Air Force Reserves as a flight commander and an instructor pilot, before becoming a Lieutenant Colonel in November 2001. On January 15, 1990, Lt. Colonel Claiborne joined United Airlines initially as a flight engineer but eventually worked her way up to Captain on a Boeing jetliner. Although Claiborne was not the first black woman pilot at United, she remained one of a small number of black female pilots. As late as 2019 she was one of only 15 black women pilots at the airline. Having accumulated a total of over 15,000 civilian flying hours, Lt. Colonel Claiborne became Captain Claiborne at United. On January 6, 2003, while still flying for United, Lieutenant Colonel Claiborne retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserves. In 2016, she co-founded Sisters of the Skies, a nonprofit organization that provides mentorship and scholarships to Black women in aviation, raising over $1 million for future pilots. Currently, in the U.S., there are about 158,000 licensed pilots. Just 2.6%, or about 4,100, are Black, and less than one percent, or about 150, are Black women.

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