Jenny Gruber was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She graduated from Boston University (ENG '99) with a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering, and in 2002, earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Science from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Jenny joined NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston as a cooperative education student in the fall of 1996, and as a full time employee in the fall of 2002. She spent 9 years in the Flight Design and Dynamics Division of the Flight Operations Directorate. She was a Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) in Space Shuttle Mission Control, and her assignments included Entry FDO for STS-125—the final Hubble Space Telescope Servicing mission—and Entry FDO for the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135! Jenny is married and has a 7-year old son, Markus, who was born in Ethiopia. In her spare time, Jenny enjoys long-distance running, serving as an Elder and Sunday school teacher at Clear Lake Presbyterian, travel, camping and other outdoor activities, reading, mentoring young people, and learning about Ethiopian history, language, and culture.

My Scientific Name is a children's picture storybook developed in collaboration with female and minority scientists across many science fields. Each book is personalized using the letters of their name as a way of introducing them to many different STEM careers.