Ada Lovelace
The World’s First Computer Programmer Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer known for her work on Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical …
Dr. Wanda Díaz-Merced
As we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, our innovative attention turns to a Puerto-Rican born female astronomer who can’t see the stars, but can listen to them. Blind since her early twenties, Wanda Díaz-Merced studies the light emitted by gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic events in the universe. When she lost her sight and was left without a way to do her science, realized that the light curves she could no longer see could be translated into sound. Through sonification, she regained mastery over her work, and now she’s advocating for a more inclusive scientific community.
Madame CJ Walker
Born Sarah Breedlove, the daughter of Louisiana sharecroppers and former slaves, today we know her as Madam C. J. Walker, a woman who would ultimately offer employment opportunities to thousands of Black women hired to sell and manufacture her unique formula for a hair-care system. As a singularly successful female Black entrepreneur, her reputation and legacy have been recognized for over 100 years.
Dr. Grace Brewster Murray Hopper
Grace Hopper came of age at a time when a relatively high number of women were receiving doctorates –numbers that would not be matched again until the 1980s. The war also created opportunities for women to enter the workforce in greater numbers. Nevertheless, her success in a male-dominated field and in male-dominated organizations such as the US Navy, was exceptional.
Mary Sherman Morgan
America’s First Female Rocket Scientist Mary Sherman Morgan grew up in a poor farming household in North Dakota and didn’t attend school until she was nine years old. In an …
Mirian Friedman Menkin
She changed the course of human fertility. In March of 1944, this Latvian-born scientist was the first person to successfully fertilize an egg in vitro – the first to conceive …
Henrietta Swan Leavitt
She looked to the stars and made a great discovery How far is it from one galaxy to another? The discovery of how to effectively measure vast distances to remote …
Dr. Patricia Bath
Cataract surgery inventor and Cancer Research Pioneer Dr. Patricia Bath discovered and invented the laser probe Laserphaco, a new device and technique for cataract surgery, dramatically reducing the pain of …
Dr. Allyson Bieryla
The women who translated the solar eclipse into sound for the blind and visually impaired April 8 marks a total solar eclipse that will cross North America from Mexico to …
Dr. Nina Braunwald
The first female cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Nina Starr Braunwald is celebrated today for her key role in the design and implementation of the first prosthetic mitral valve. On her way …