{"id":40977,"date":"2016-11-22T19:28:53","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T00:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-394391"},"modified":"2023-11-28T12:45:56","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T17:45:56","slug":"katherine-johnson-biography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/langley\/katherine-johnson-biography\/","title":{"rendered":"Katherine Johnson Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1356\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?w=1356\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Portrait of Katherine Johnson\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg 1986w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=199,300 199w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=768,1160 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=678,1024 678w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=1017,1536 1017w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=1356,2048 1356w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=265,400 265w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=397,600 397w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=596,900 596w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=794,1200 794w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?resize=1324,2000 1324w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1356px) 100vw, 1356px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Born:<\/strong> Aug. 26, 1918<br>\n<strong>Died<\/strong>: Feb. 24, 2020<br>\n<strong>Hometown<\/strong>: White Sulphur Springs, WV<br>\n<strong>Education:<\/strong> B.S., Mathematics and French, West Virginia State College, 1937<br>\n<strong>Hired by NACA:<\/strong> June 1953<br>\n<strong>Retired from NASA:<\/strong> 1986<br>\n<strong>Actress Playing Role in Hidden Figures:<\/strong> Taraji P. Henson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Biography by Margot Lee <\/em><em>Shetterly<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being handpicked to be one of three black students to integrate West Virginia\u2019s graduate schools is something that many people would consider one of their life\u2019s most notable moments, but it\u2019s just one of several breakthroughs that have marked Katherine Johnson\u2019s long and remarkable life. Born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, in 1918, her intense curiosity and brilliance with numbers vaulted her ahead several grades in school. By 13, she was attending the high school on the campus of historically black West Virginia State College. At 18, she enrolled in the college itself, where she made quick work of the school\u2019s math curriculum and found a mentor in math professor W. W. Schieffelin Claytor, the third African American to earn a PhD in mathematics. She graduated with highest honors in 1937 and took a job teaching at a black public school in Virginia.  <\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"nasa-gb-align-center nasa-button-link padding-y-1 padding-x-0 hds-module wp-block-nasa-blocks-related-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/katherine-johnson\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"button-primary button-primary-md link-external-true\" aria-label=\"More stories on Katherine Johnson\">\n\t\t<span class=\"line-height-alt-1\">More stories on Katherine Johnson<\/span>\n\t\t<svg viewBox=\"0 0 32 32\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><circle class=\"button-primary-circle\" cx=\"16\" cy=\"16\" r=\"16\"><\/circle><path d=\"M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z\" class=\"color-spacesuit-white\"><\/path><\/svg>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n<p>When West Virginia decided to quietly integrate its graduate schools in 1939, West Virginia State\u2019s president, Dr. John W. Davis, selected her and two men to be the first black students offered spots at the state\u2019s flagship school, West Virginia University. She left her teaching job and enrolled in the graduate math program. At the end of the first session, however, she decided to leave school to start a family with her first husband, James Goble.  She returned to teaching when her three daughters got older, but it wasn\u2019t until 1952 that a relative told her about open positions at the all-black West Area Computing section at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics\u2019 (NACA\u2019s) Langley laboratory, headed by fellow West Virginian Dorothy Vaughan. Katherine and her husband decided to move the family to Newport News, Virginia, to pursue the opportunity, and Katherine began work at Langley in the summer of 1953. Just two weeks into her tenure in the office, Dorothy Vaughan assigned her to a project in the Maneuver Loads Branch of the Flight Research Division, and Katherine\u2019s temporary position soon became permanent. She spent the next four years analyzing data from flight tests and worked on the investigation of a plane crash caused by wake turbulence. As she was wrapping up this work her husband died of cancer in December 1956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik changed history\u2014and Johnson\u2019s life. In 1957, she provided some of the math for the 1958 document <a href=\"https:\/\/ntrs.nasa.gov\/archive\/nasa\/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov\/19740074640.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">Notes on Space Technology<\/a>, a compendium of a series of 1958 lectures given by engineers in the Flight Research Division and the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division (PARD). Engineers from those groups formed the core of the Space Task Group, the NACA\u2019s first official foray into space travel. Johnson, who had worked with many of them since coming to Langley, \u201ccame along with the program\u201d as the NACA became NASA later that year. She did trajectory analysis for Alan Shepard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/mercury-redstone-3-freedom-7\/\" data-type=\"mission\" data-id=\"204248\">May 1961 mission Freedom 7<\/a>, America\u2019s first human spaceflight. In 1960, she and engineer Ted Skopinski coauthored <a href=\"https:\/\/ntrs.nasa.gov\/archive\/nasa\/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov\/19980227091.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">Determination of Azimuth Angle at Burnout for Placing a Satellite Over a Selected Earth Position<\/a>, a report laying out the equations describing an orbital spaceflight in which the landing position of the spacecraft is specified. It was the first time a woman in the Flight Research Division had received credit as an author of a research report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/former-astronaut-john-h-glenn\/\" data-type=\"topic\" data-id=\"335197\">John Glenn<\/a>, Johnson was called upon to do the work that she would become most known for. The complexity of the orbital flight had required the construction of a worldwide communications network, linking tracking stations around the world to IBM computers in Washington, Cape Canaveral in Florida, and Bermuda. The computers had been programmed with the orbital equations that would control the trajectory of the capsule in Glenn\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/mercury-atlas-6-friendship-7\/\" data-type=\"mission\" data-id=\"205848\">Friendship 7<\/a> mission from liftoff to splashdown, but the astronauts were wary of putting their lives in the care of the electronic calculating machines, which were prone to hiccups and blackouts. As a part of the preflight checklist, Glenn asked engineers to \u201cget the girl\u201d\u2014Johnson\u2014to run the same numbers through the same equations that had been programmed into the computer, but by hand, on her desktop mechanical calculating machine.  \u201cIf she says they\u2019re good,\u2019\u201d Katherine Johnson remembers the astronaut saying, \u201cthen I\u2019m ready to go.\u201d Glenn\u2019s flight was a success, and marked a turning point in the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked to name her greatest contribution to space exploration, Johnson would talk about the calculations that helped synch Project Apollo\u2019s Lunar Module with the lunar-orbiting Command and Service Module. She also worked on the Space Shuttle and the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS, later renamed Landsat) and authored or coauthored 26 research reports. She retired in 1986, after 33 years at Langley. \u201cI loved going to work every single day,\u201d she said. In 2015, at age 97, Johnson added another extraordinary achievement to her long list: President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America\u2019s highest civilian honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She died on Feb. 24, 2020. NASA Administrator James Bridenstine said, \u201cOur NASA family is sad to learn the news that Katherine Johnson passed away this morning at 101 years old. She was an American hero and her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-topic-cards nasa-gb-align-full maxw-full width-full padding-y-6 padding-x-3 color-mode-dark hds-module hds-module-full wp-block-nasa-blocks-topic-cards\">\t\t<div class=\"grid-container grid-container-block-lg padding-x-0\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-row flex-align-center margin-bottom-3\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"desktop:grid-col-8 margin-bottom-2 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"label color-carbon-60 margin-bottom-2\">Keep Exploring<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"heading-36 line-height-sm\">Discover More About the History of NASA<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-row grid-gap-2 hds-topic-cards-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/katherine-johnson\/\" class=\"mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hds-topic-card hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"skrim-overlay skrim-overlay-dark skrim-left mobile-skrim-top padding-3 display-flex flex-align-end flex-justify-start z-200\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"hds-topic-card-heading heading-29 color-spacesuit-white line-height-sm margin-top-0 margin-bottom-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Katherine Johnson: A NASA Trailblazer<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg viewBox=\"0 0 32 32\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><circle class=\"color-nasa-red\" cx=\"16\" cy=\"16\" r=\"16\"><\/circle><path d=\"M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z\" class=\"color-spacesuit-white\"><\/path><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1213\" height=\"617\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?w=1213\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png 1213w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?resize=300,153 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?resize=768,391 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?resize=1024,521 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?resize=400,203 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?resize=600,305 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?resize=900,458 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/katherine_johnson_john_glenn_0.png?resize=1200,610 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1213px) 100vw, 1213px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/\" class=\"mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hds-topic-card hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"skrim-overlay skrim-overlay-dark skrim-left mobile-skrim-top padding-3 display-flex flex-align-end flex-justify-start z-200\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"hds-topic-card-heading heading-29 color-spacesuit-white line-height-sm margin-top-0 margin-bottom-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>NASA History<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg viewBox=\"0 0 32 32\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><circle class=\"color-nasa-red\" cx=\"16\" cy=\"16\" r=\"16\"><\/circle><path d=\"M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z\" class=\"color-spacesuit-white\"><\/path><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"983\" height=\"1223\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg?w=983\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg 983w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg?resize=241,300 241w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg?resize=768,956 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg?resize=823,1024 823w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg?resize=322,400 322w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg?resize=482,600 482w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg?resize=723,900 723w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/as11-40-5903_alt2.jpg?resize=965,1200 965w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 983px) 100vw, 983px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/history-office\/\" class=\"mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hds-topic-card hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"skrim-overlay skrim-overlay-dark skrim-left mobile-skrim-top padding-3 display-flex flex-align-end flex-justify-start z-200\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"hds-topic-card-heading heading-29 color-spacesuit-white line-height-sm margin-top-0 margin-bottom-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>NASA History Office<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg viewBox=\"0 0 32 32\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><circle class=\"color-nasa-red\" cx=\"16\" cy=\"16\" r=\"16\"><\/circle><path d=\"M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z\" class=\"color-spacesuit-white\"><\/path><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1536\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/grc-1957-c-44368.jpg?w=1536\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/langley\/history\/\" class=\"mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hds-topic-card hds-cover-wrapper cover-hover-zoom bg-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"skrim-overlay skrim-overlay-dark skrim-left mobile-skrim-top padding-3 display-flex flex-align-end flex-justify-start z-200\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"hds-topic-card-heading heading-29 color-spacesuit-white line-height-sm margin-top-0 margin-bottom-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>The History of NASA Langley Research Center<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg viewBox=\"0 0 32 32\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><circle class=\"color-nasa-red\" cx=\"16\" cy=\"16\" r=\"16\"><\/circle><path d=\"M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z\" class=\"color-spacesuit-white\"><\/path><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1171\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?w=1536\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg 3672w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=300,229 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=768,586 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=1024,781 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=1536,1171 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=2048,1562 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=400,305 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=600,458 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=900,686 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=1200,915 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/8th_annual_aircraft_engineering_research_conference_l-08481.jpg?resize=2000,1525 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Born: Aug. 26, 1918 Died: Feb. 24, 2020 Hometown: White Sulphur Springs, WV Education: B.S., Mathematics and French, West Virginia State College, 1937 Hired by NACA: June 1953 Retired from NASA: 1986 Actress Playing Role in Hidden Figures: Taraji P. Henson Biography by Margot Lee Shetterly Being handpicked to be one of three black students to [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":47526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"374926","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":["283557"],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2863,2885,12409,2671,2668],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[4294],"coauthors":[12404],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Katherine Johnson Biography","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/langley\/katherine-johnson-biography\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/langley\/katherine-johnson-biography\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg"},"articleSection":"NASA Centers & Facilities","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Margot Lee Shetterly"}],"creator":["Margot Lee Shetterly"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["People of NASA","Langley Research Center","Diversity at NASA","Modern Figures","NASA History"],"dateCreated":"2016-11-23T00:28:53Z","datePublished":"2016-11-23T00:28:53Z","dateModified":"2023-11-28T17:45:56Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Katherine Johnson Biography\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/langley\/katherine-johnson-biography\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2016-11-23T00:28:53Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA Centers & Facilities\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"People of NASA,Langley Research Center,Diversity at NASA,Modern Figures,NASA History\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Margot Lee Shetterly\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":5,"time_ago":"8 years","featured_image":{"id":47526,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1.jpg","title":"26646856911_ca242812ee_o_1","alt":"Portrait of Katherine Johnson","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40977"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395219,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40977\/revisions\/395219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40977"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=40977"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=40977"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=40977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}