#MATHEMATICIAN KATHERINE JOHNSON NASA PROFESSIONAL#

But eventually, with the support of a male colleague, Johnson became the first woman in her division to put her name on a report.

Women were also not allowed to attend meetings nor to put their names in their research reports. During her first years at NACA, Johnson had to walk half a mile across the NASA campus to use a bathroom, as Black people were not allowed to use the bathroom in her division. Johnson and her colleagues faced open workplace discrimination for being women of colour- the office they were working in was even named “Coloured computers”. She began working at NACA’s Langley Research Center as one of the ‘human computers’ to verify calculations from the electronic computers. She was a working single mom for about three years until she met her second husband, with whom she was married for 58 years until her death. Sadly, her husband died from a brain tumor a few years later. She was offered a permanent teaching position and a job at NACA the following year, but she decided to take the NACA position without hesitation. When she heard of a job opportunity at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), later to become NASA, Johnson jumped at it. But soon after she got pregnant and decided to stop studying to raise her daughter. After getting married in 1939, she quit her job and enrolled in grad school to study maths. She ended up taking a teaching job at a public high school. She graduated summa cum laude in Maths and French at 18 years old.ĭespite being a mathematical genius, as a woman of colour in a segregated society Johnson had limited career opportunities. In college, she started studying French and English but a professor encouraged her to study maths instead. By age 10, Johnson was already in high school. She started elementary school at the age of 5 but had to be moved into more advanced classes twice. Johnson’s remarkable intelligence became apparent at a young age. Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) was well-known for her aeronautics work at NASA, where she developed calculations that helped the US launch its first astronaut into space in 1961 and safely land Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969, among other pioneering crewed space missions. Sometimes they have more imagination than men.” Katherine Johnson Larger ideas such as white supremacy are broken down with ease for younger readers.“Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. She neatly and accurately weaves in significant historical events that had profound effects on our country and the African American community, including the murder of Emmett Till, lunch counter sit-ins, and school integration.

Johnson’s story is captivating, informative, and inspiring.

#MATHEMATICIAN KATHERINE JOHNSON NASA PROFESSIONAL#

This autobiography chronicles her personal life, from growing up in a tight-knit family of six to having three children of her own, as well as her professional accomplishments and her career at NASA. She went on to work at and retire from NASA as a mathematician. Her first job out of college was as a schoolteacher. She surpassed her older siblings in grade level, math courses were created for her because she was not challenged enough, and she graduated from West Virginia State at the age of 18 with a degree in mathematics and French. Despite growing up in a time of extreme racism and sexism, Johnson not only persevered-she flourished. Gr 5 Up–From a very young age, Johnson excelled as a student.

Mathematician katherine johnson nasa