Learning Center Our Enshrinees

Katherine Johnson

• Graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia University with degrees in Mathematics and French in 1937.
• Joined National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which became NASA, in 1953 as a “computer” in the all-black female mathematics group.
• Executed precise calculations of orbital mechanics during her tenure at NASA, which were pivotal in the success of the first U.S. crewed spaceflight and subsequent missions.
• Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and was featured in the film “Hidden Figures.”