#KATHERINE JOHNSON NASA SCIENTIST PROFESSIONAL#

Katherine Johnson was at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Va. They worked together to advance each other individually and collectively as they performed calculations for space missions and aviation research. Later, she joined the West Computing Group at Langley Research Center where women “ found jobs and each other.” They checked each other’s work and made sure nothing left the office with an error. At that time, she was among the nearly 60% of those women who had become teachers. In 1940, Johnson found herself among the 2% of all African-American women who had earned a college degree. Apparently, the men grew tired of her questions and finally allowed her to attend the briefings. Initially, Johnson would ask questions about the briefings and “listen and listen.” Eventually, she asked if she could attend. When NASA was formed in 1958, women were still not allowed to attend the Test Flight briefings. The power of advocating for yourself Katherine Johnson worked at NASA in 1966. Currently, the NASA archives contain more than 25 scientific reports on space flight history authored or co-authored by Johnson, the largest number by any African-American or woman. In 1960, her efforts helped her become the first African-American and the first woman to have her name on a NASA research report. She also had to be “assertive and aggressive” about receiving credit for her contributions to research at NASA. In 1940, she agreed to serve as one of three carefully selected students to desegregate West Virginia University’s graduate program. Long before psychologist Angela Duckworth called attention to the power of passion and perseverance in the form of grit, Katherine Johnson modeled this stalwart characteristic. She used these analytical skills to verify the computer calculations for John Glenn’s orbit around the earth and to help determine the trajectory for the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the moon, among others. Mathematics concepts build on one another and the mathematics she learned in this class helped her in her work at NASA many years later. Once Johnson completed the standard mathematics curriculum at West Virginia State College, Claytor created advanced classes just for her, including a course on analytic geometry. Barack Obama awarded Katherine Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.ĪP Photo/Evan Vucci 2.

#KATHERINE JOHNSON NASA SCIENTIST PROFESSIONAL#

In the 1930s, a little over 100 American women counted themselves as professional mathematicians. Claytor encouraged Katherine to become a research mathematician. Schieffelin Claytor, the third African American to earn a Ph.D. While there, she had the good fortune to learn from W. Johnson graduated from West Virginia State College at the age of 18. Thirteen years older than Johnson, she modeled a life of possibility. King taught Johnson geometry and encouraged her mathematical pursuits. King taught at the laboratory high school while she worked to become one of the first African-American women to earn masters degrees in math and chemistry. While at West Virginia State, Johnson took classes with Angie Turner King. Johnson entered West Virginia State College High School as a preteen and enrolled at the age of 14. Mentors make a differenceĮarly in her life, Johnson’s parents fostered her intellectual prowess.īecause there was no high school for African-American children in their hometown of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, the family relocated to Institute, West Virginia, during the school year. I can point to some contemporary ideas we can all benefit from when examining Johnson’s life. Her legacy provides lessons for supporting women and other underrepresented groups in mathematics and science.Īs a historian of mathematics, I have studied women in that field and use the book “Hidden Figures” in my classroom. Johnson became a household name thanks to the celebrated book “ Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians who Helped Win the Space Race,” which later became a movie. Katherine Johnson, an African-American mathematician who made critical contributions to the space program at NASA, died Feb. Katherine Johnson spoke at the Oscars about her work depicted in the 2016 film ‘Hidden Figures.’

Katherine johnson nasa scientist