Johnson Computational Research Facility, at its Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.Īlso in 2017, Clark Atlanta University awarded Johnson an honorary degree. In 2017, NASA dedicated a building to her, the Katherine G. President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NASA mathematician and physicist Katherine Johnson at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 24, 2015. Johnson refused to be limited by society’s expectations of her gender and race while expanding the boundaries of humanity’s reach,” Obama said. In 2015, then-President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Joe Manchin of West Virginia also paid tribute to Johnson on Twitter on Monday.

Although “Hidden Figures” did not win, Johnson received a standing ovation at the 2017 Academy Awards as she appeared onstage with the cast. The film was nominated for three Oscars, including best picture. She went to work for it in 1953 and remained until 1986.ĭespite her contributions to the space program, nearly no one outside the agency knew Johnson’s name, but the film changed that, bringing her out of the shadows for millions of new admirers. She got a job as a teacher before hearing that the government agency, which later became NASA, was looking for mathematicians to solve complex math problems related to flight in the age before computers. Johnson was a West Virginia whiz kid, going to high school at 10 and graduating from college at 18. Her calculations were also used to land Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969 and then returned it safely to Earth. NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson is photographed at her desk at NASA Langley Research Center with a globe, or 'Celestial Training Device.'

Katherine johnson nasa mathemation