- Born 1921, Hampton, VA; dies 2005
- 1942, Graduates with a B.S. in Mathematics and Physical Science from Hampton Institute
- 1951, several career changes later, she is hired by NACA’s Langley Memorial Aeronautical
Laboratory working under Dorothy Vaughan in the segregated West Area Computing section
- 1953, works in Supersonic Pressure Tunnel and is encouraged by engineer Kazimierz Carnecki to
take graduate level courses in math and physics
- 1958 becomes first black female engineer & co-authors “Effects of Nose Angle and Mach Number
on Transition on Cones at Supersonic Speeds”
- 1979, frustrated by her experience of the glass ceiling, she takes position as Langley’s
Federal Women’s Program Manager
- 1985, Retires from NASA
A Mathematician and aerospace engineer, Mary Winston Jackson was NASA's first African-American female engineer and a member of the so-called "Hidden Figures" group.
