Dorothy Vaughan graduated from Wilberforce University in 1929 with a degree in mathematics. In 1943, Vaughan joined NACA’s (the predecessor to NASA) Langley Research Center as a “human computer.” She became the agency’s first Black female supervisor in 1949. Vaughan was part of the team of mathematicians who worked on John Glenn’s first launch into space, as depicted in the movie “Hidden Figures.” When NASA transitioned to machine computing in the 1960s, Vaughan taught herself and her team the Fortran programming language. She also contributed to the space program through her work on the Scout Launch Vehicle Program. In 2019, Vaughan was honored posthumously with the Congressional Gold Medal.
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