Jim Kitchen

Career

Jim Kitchen, born August 15, 1964, is an American entrepreneur, professor, and adventurer who teaches entrepreneurship at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. He is known for being the first person to visit all 193 United Nations-recognized countries, travel to space, and descend to the deepest part of the ocean. Kitchen launched his first business in 1985, a marketing venture that promoted low Earth orbit space trips. He later founded an international tour business and several other companies.

He played a key role in building Chapel Hill's entrepreneurship scene by opening the accelerator Launch Chapel Hill and the student incubator 1789 Venture Lab. In 2010, he began teaching at UNC, where his course focuses on creating profits with a purpose. Students learn entrepreneurial principles by starting small businesses that donate profits to nonprofits like Make a Wish and other charities. His classes have given away multiple cars to people transitioning out of homelessness.

Space flight

Kitchen started international travel in high school and, over 30 years, visited all 193 U.N. countries, reaching his 193rd, Syria, in 2019. He is a Gold Member of the Travelers' Century Club for visiting over 100 countries. On March 14, 2022, Blue Origin announced Kitchen would join the NS-20 mission. Pete Davidson was originally scheduled but changed his mind, and Gary Lai, the chief architect of the New Shepard rocket, replaced him.

On March 31, 2022, Kitchen became the first person to visit all 193 U.N. countries and go to space. News outlets called him the "Modern Day Marco Polo" who went to space.

Titan submersible

On July 5, 2022, he traveled in the submersible Limiting Factor to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the ocean's deepest point, reaching depths between 10,925 and 10,935 meters, about 210 nautical miles southwest of Guam. In June 2023, Kitchen was scheduled to join an OceanGate expedition on the Titan submersible to the Titanic wreck, but he withdrew after raising safety concerns. Days later, the vessel imploded during its descent, killing all five people aboard.