{"id":373796,"date":"2023-06-26T12:40:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T16:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?post_type=people&p=373796"},"modified":"2023-06-27T11:33:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T15:33:50","slug":"dorothy-vaughan","status":"publish","type":"people","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people\/dorothy-vaughan\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorothy Vaughan"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-bio-intro maxw-full width-full padding-y-6 padding-x-3 hds-module hds-module-full wp-block-nasa-blocks-bio-intro\">\n\t<div class=\"hds-bio-intro-container grid-row grid-container grid-container-block padding-0\">\n\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-4 desktop:grid-col-3\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"hds-bio-thumbnail width-10 tablet:width-card desktop:width-card-lg\">\n\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1371\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?w=1024\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"Dorothy Vaughn\" style=\"transform: scale(1.2); transform-origin: 49% 38%; object-position: 49% 38%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg 2376w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=224,300 224w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=768,1028 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=765,1024 765w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=1148,1536 1148w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=1530,2048 1530w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=299,400 299w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=448,600 448w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=672,900 672w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=897,1200 897w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?resize=1494,2000 1494w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-7 desktop:grid-col-9 grid-row margin-0 padding-0\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-8 margin-bottom-2 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-1 desktop:margin-bottom-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"display-60 display-block width-full\">Dorothy Vaughan<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"p-lg padding-0 margin-0 color-carbon-60\">NACA\/NASA Mathematician<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Date of Birth:<\/strong> September 20, 1910<br>\n<strong>Hometown:<\/strong> Kansas City, MO<br>\n<strong>Education:<\/strong> B.A., Mathematics, Wilberforce University, 1929<br>\n<strong>Hired by NACA:<\/strong> December 1943<br>\n<strong>Retired from NASA:<\/strong> 1971<br>\n<strong>Date of Death:<\/strong> November 10, 2008<br>\n<strong>Actress Playing Role in Hidden Figures:<\/strong> Octavia Spencer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an era when NASA is led by an African American man (Administrator Charles Bolden) and a woman (Deputy Administrator Dava Newman), and when recent NASA Center Directors come from a variety of backgrounds, it\u2019s easy to overlook the people who paved the way for the agency\u2019s current robust and diverse workforce and leadership. Those who speak of NASA\u2019s pioneers rarely mention the name Dorothy Vaughan, but as the head of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics\u2019 (NACA\u2019s) segregated West Area Computing Unit from 1949 until 1958, Vaughan was both a respected mathematician and NASA\u2019s first African-American manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group\u2019s original section heads (first Margery Hannah, then Blanche Sponsler) were white. In 1949, Dorothy Vaughan was promoted to lead the group, making her the NACA\u2019s first black supervisor, and one of the NACA\u2019s few female supervisors. The Section Head title gave Dorothy rare Laboratory-wide visibility, and she collaborated with other well-known (white) computers like Vera Huckel and Sara Bullock on projects such as compiling a handbook for algebraic methods for calculating machines. Vaughan was a steadfast advocate for the women of West Computing, and even intervened on behalf of white computers in other groups who deserved promotions or pay raises. Engineers valued her recommendations as to the best \u201cgirls\u201d for a particular project, and for challenging assignments they often requested that she personally handle the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:28px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-wide\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/westarea-cafe-small.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"985\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/westarea-cafe-small.jpg?w=985\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Floor plan of West Area Cafeteria in 1944 with segregated facilities\" style=\"transform: scale(1.2); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/westarea-cafe-small.jpg 985w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/westarea-cafe-small.jpg?resize=300,195 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/westarea-cafe-small.jpg?resize=768,500 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/westarea-cafe-small.jpg?resize=400,260 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/westarea-cafe-small.jpg?resize=600,390 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/westarea-cafe-small.jpg?resize=900,586 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 985px) 100vw, 985px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Floor plan of West Area Cafeteria in 1944 with segregated facilities<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Dorothy Vaughan came to the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in 1943, during the height of World War II, leaving her position as the math teacher at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, VA to take what she believed would be a temporary war job. Two years after President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 into law, prohibiting racial, religious and ethnic discrimination in the country\u2019s defense industry, the Laboratory began hiring black women to meet the skyrocketing demand for processing aeronautical research data. Urgency and twenty-four hour shifts prevailed\u2013 as did Jim Crow laws which required newly-hired \u201ccolored\u201d mathematicians to work separately from their white female counterparts. Dorothy Vaughan was assigned to the segregated \u201cWest Area Computing\u201d unit, an all-black group of female mathematicians, who were originally required to use separate dining and bathroom facilities. Over time, both individually and as a group, the West Computers distinguished themselves with contributions to virtually every area of research at Langley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:29px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-wide\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/dorothy-vaughan\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1041\" height=\"814\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/l_dorothy_vaughan_m_lessie_hunter_r_vivian_adair.jpg?w=1041\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Photograph of Dorothy Vaughan (left) with Lessie Hunter (center), Vivian Adair (right) \" style=\"transform: scale(1.2); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/l_dorothy_vaughan_m_lessie_hunter_r_vivian_adair.jpg 1041w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/l_dorothy_vaughan_m_lessie_hunter_r_vivian_adair.jpg?resize=300,235 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/l_dorothy_vaughan_m_lessie_hunter_r_vivian_adair.jpg?resize=768,601 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/l_dorothy_vaughan_m_lessie_hunter_r_vivian_adair.jpg?resize=1024,801 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/l_dorothy_vaughan_m_lessie_hunter_r_vivian_adair.jpg?resize=400,313 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/l_dorothy_vaughan_m_lessie_hunter_r_vivian_adair.jpg?resize=600,469 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/l_dorothy_vaughan_m_lessie_hunter_r_vivian_adair.jpg?resize=900,704 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1041px) 100vw, 1041px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Dorothy Vaughan (left) with Lessie Hunter (center), Vivian Adair (right) and Margaret Ridenhour and Charlotte Craidon in back. <\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Dorothy Vaughan helmed West Computing for nearly a decade. In 1958, when the NACA made the transition to NASA, segregated facilities, including the West Computing office, were abolished. Dorothy Vaughan and many of the former West Computers joined the new Analysis and Computation Division (ACD), a racially and gender-integrated group on the frontier of electronic computing. Dorothy Vaughan became an expert FORTRAN programmer, and she also contributed to the Scout Launch Vehicle Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dorothy Vaughan retired from NASA in 1971. She sought, but never received, another management position at Langley. Her legacy lives on in the successful careers of notable West Computing alumni, including Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Eunice Smith and Kathryn Peddrew, and the achievements of second-generation mathematicians and engineers such as Dr. Christine Darden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Biography by Margot Lee Shetterly<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Date of Birth: September 20, 1910 Hometown: Kansas City, MO Education: B.A., Mathematics, Wilberforce University, 1929 Hired by NACA: December 1943 Retired from NASA: 1971 Date of Death: November 10, 2008 Actress Playing Role in Hidden Figures: Octavia Spencer In an era when NASA is led by an African American man (Administrator Charles Bolden) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":80753,"template":"","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":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"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":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_people_facebook_url":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_people_twitter_url":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_people_instagram_url":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_people_linkedin_url":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_people_title":"NACA\/NASA Mathematician"},"categories":[2863,2665,2668],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[12404,8640],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"WebPage","headline":"Dorothy Vaughan","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people\/dorothy-vaughan\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people\/dorothy-vaughan\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dorothy-vaughan-10people.jpg"},"articleSection":"NASA Centers & Facilities","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Margot Lee Shetterly"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Sandra L. 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