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Women Wednesday - Dorothy Vaughan

March 1st, 2023 by Jane Smith

“I changed what I could, and what I couldn’t, I endured.” - Dorothy Vaughan

Dorothy Vaughan (nee Johnson) was an African–American mathematician and "Human Computer" who made significant contributions to the early U.S. space program.  Born in 1910, she earned her B.A. in Mathematics from Wilberforce University in 1929 at the age of 19.  Following graduation, Vaughn spent the next 14 years teaching high school mathematics, during which time she married, and had six children.

In 1943, during World War II, Vaughn left teaching to join the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as a part of the segregated, and all female, West Area Computing Unit.  This group earned a distinguished reputation for their abilities, producing complex calculations by hand, using simple slide rules and graph paper, and analyzing reams of data for aerospace engineers.

Vaughan was promoted to section head in1949, making her one of the few female supervisors and NACA’s first black supervisor.  A true leader, she advocated for not only her own advancement but for all the computers, regardless of race, who deserved promotions or pay raises.  NACA engineers respected and valued her input and recommendations and often requested her to personally handle the more challenging tasks.

Vaughan would be supervisor of the West Area Computers until 1958, when NACA became NASA and the segregated facilities and work units were abolished.  She joined the new Analysis and Computation Division and became an expert, and self-taught, FORTRAN programmer and taught her colleagues computer language and other concepts to prepare them for the transition to using machine computers that would ultimately replace the human computers.

What started as a temporary ‘war job’ lead to a 28-year career, from which she retired in 1971.  Vaughan died in 2008 at the age of 98 years old.

Jane Smith, PE, Licensed Engineering Professional at HRP Associates, Inc.

Sources:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/dorothy-vaughan-biography
https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/nasas-overlooked-star/
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/vaughan-dorothy-johnson-1910-2008/
https://interestingengineering.com/culture/dorothy-vaughan-nasas-human-computer-and-american-hero