In addition, Johnson has been honored with an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the State University of New York and honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Capitol College in Maryland and Old Dominion University in Virginia. She was named Mathematician of the Year in 1997 by the National Technical Association. Among them were the NASA Lunar Orbiter Award and three NASA Special Achievement Awards. During her tenure at NASA, Johnson received many prestigious awards. Johnson worked at the agency until 1986, when she retired after 33 years of service. She went on to do the calculations for the first actual moon landing in 1969. Even after NASA began using electronic computers, John Glenn requested that she personally recheck the calculations made by the new electronic computers before his flight aboard Friendship 7 – the mission on which he became the first American to orbit the Earth. She didn’t want to just do the work - she wanted to know the “hows” and the “whys” and then the “why nots.” None of the other women had ever asked questions before, but by asking questions, Johnson began to stand out.Īs a computer, she calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American in space. As Johnson worked on the problems, she would ask questions. Johnson started as one of the women who worked on problems assigned from engineers in what was then the Guidance and Control Branch. Johnson began working for the NACA in 1953. The next year, she applied again and this time was accepted into the program. She applied for the job but the agency had already filled its positions for that year. They were specifically looking for African-American women to work as “computers” in what was then their Guidance and Navigation Department. One day, at a family function in the 1950s, a relative mentioned to Johnson that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor to NASA, was hiring. Johnson became a teacher herself for several years following graduation, but never forget about the encouragement her professor and mentor had given her at State to follow her passion for mathematics. Johnson excelled in her studies and graduated summa cum laude from State in 1937 at the age of 18 with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and French. Professor Claytor made sure I was prepared to be a research mathematician,” Johnson recalled years later during an interview for a NASA educational publication. “Many professors tell you that you’d be good at this or that, but they don’t always help you with that career path. The young professor encouraged Johnson by telling her that one day she would make a great research mathematician, and that he would help her. Johnson excelled at high school and graduated early, enrolling for college classes at West Virginia State by the time she was 15.Īt State, Johnson became immersed in the mathematics program, and was inspired by one of her professors, Dr. Everybody in the high school knew everybody in the college and it was just like being at home.” It was a small high school and it was pleasant to be there, but everybody knew you. “You got the best education there could be at the time (in Institute),” Johnson recalled recently in the documentary ‘Rise Up West Virginia.’ “You knew everybody. High praise indeed for Johnson, a native of White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., who first came to Institute at the ripe old age of 10 to attend the high school that used to be part of West Virginia State’s campus. In bestowing the award, President Barack Obama called Johnson, “a pioneer in American space history,” whose mathematical calculations “influenced every major space program from Mercury through the Shuttle program.”
Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award that can be bestowed upon a civilian. In November 2015, West Virginia State graduate Katherine G. The following article about Katherine Johnson first appeared in the 2016 edition of State magazine, West Virginia State University's flagship publication.
For more information about the movie, please visit the offiical "HIdden Figures" website here. Johnson's remarkable story is also told in the book and major motion picture "Hidden Figures," released nationwide in January 2016. West Virginia State graduate Katherine Johnson has received many accolades for her pioneering work at NASA, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
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