Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Dorothy Vaughan
- Basic Info
- b. 1910, Kansas City, MO; d. 2008.
- Contributed largely to the
development of NASA and the
racial equality within their
workplace
- Youth and Studies
- 1924: graduated from Beechurst
High School as Valedictorian
- 1929: B.A. in Mathematics from
Wilberforce University
- Graduated Cum Laude
- Was encouraged to pursue a
doctorate but went into teaching
after undergraduate instead
- Teacher & Researcher
- Was a math teacher at Robert Russa
Moton high school in Farmville, VA
- 1943: hired by NACA (later NASA)
- Roosevelt issued executive
order 8802 to desegregate the
defense community- this led to
the opportunity for Dorothy and
the others to work for NASA
- 1949-1958: head of the national
advisory committee for
aeronautics (NACA’s) segregated
west area computing unit
- 1958 Was transferred to the
analysis and computation division
when NACA became NASA
- Became an expert FORTRAN
programmer
- Contributed to the scout launch
vehicle program
- Later Years
- 1971: retired from NASA
- 2008: passed away @ age 98
- 2019: posthumously awarded Congressional Gold Medal
- 2019: Vaughan crater on the far side of the moon was named in her honor
- 2020: a satellite named after her was launched into space