10 Education


NASA names building after ‘Hidden Figure’ Mary W. Jackson


Volume 15 Number 6


boundary layer of air around airplanes. In 1979, she joined Langley’s Federal Women’s Program, where she worked hard to address the hiring and promotion of the next generation of female mathematicians, engineers, and scientists. She retired from Langley in 1985 and passed away in Hampton on February 11, 2005, at the age of 83. She was preceded in death by her husband, Levi Jackson Sr., and was survived by her son, Levi Jackson Jr., and her daughter, Carolyn Marie Lewis.


March 2021


The legacy of Jackson and others lives on through NASA’s continuing commitment to diversity and inclusion. Jackson’s commitment to excellence, diversity,


inclusion, and teamwork


represents not only the best of NASA’s current talent, but also the future of the agency. Embracing an inclusive culture is central to all NASA does and is reflected in the recent addition of inclusion as one of the agency’s core values, along with safety, integrity, teamwork, and excellence.


Kaine applauds wins for Virginia in American Rescue Plan


Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote


Bryan Jackson, grandson of Mary W. Jackson, left, and Raymond Lewis, son-in-law of Mary W. Jackson, right, unveil the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters sign during a ceremony officially naming the building, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo by NASA/Joel Kowsky


BY NASA Last month NASA celebrated


the agency’s first African American female engineer, Mary W. Jackson, with a ceremony to formally name the agency’s headquarters building in Washington in her honor. Jackson began working at Advisory Committee


National the segregated West Area


the for


Aeronautics (NACA) – the forerunner of NASA – in April 1951. From her initial role as a “human computer” within


Computing Unit of what would become NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to becoming an engineer, to managing Langley’s Federal Women’s Program and championing equal employment opportunity toward the


efforts at the center end of her career,


Jackson’s pioneering efforts and commitment to helping others have inspired generations – both at NASA and beyond. “With the official naming of the


Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters today, we ensure that she is a hidden figure no longer,” said acting NASA Administrator


Steve Jurczyk.


“Jackson’s story is one of incredible determination. She personified NASA’s spirit of persevering against all odds, providing inspiration and advancing science and exploration.” The work of Jackson and others


in Langley’s West Area Computing Unit caught


widespread book “Hidden American Dream


attention in the 2016 Margot Lee Shetterly The


national Figures:


and the


Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race.” The book was made into a popular movie that same year, with award-winning actress Janelle Monáe playing Jackson’s character.


In 2019, Jackson and fellow “Hidden Figures” Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan,


and


Christine Darden were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal – the highest


civilian award – for their work. On June 24, 2020, NASA announced its intent to name the building the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building. In addition


to unveiling featured a


building sign with Jackson’s name, Friday’s event


video


tributes with reflections on Jackson’s career and legacy from a variety of individuals, including family and friends, current and former NASA employees and astronauts, celebrities, elected officials, and others. The event also featured a video of poet Nikki Giovanni reading an excerpt from her poem “Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea,” which is about space and civil rights. “The recognition we celebrate


today is appropriate because Mary Jackson remains an inspiration," said Langley Director Clayton Turner. ”Her perseverance, her empathy, her desire to lift us all – she inspired others to excel and to break through barriers. That is the spirit of NASA. Mary Jackson chose to lead by example and at NASA today we strive to emulate her vision, passion, and commitment.”


Jackson was born and raised


in Hampton, Virginia. She initially worked as a math teacher in Calvert County, Maryland, and also held jobs as a bookkeeper and as a U.S. Army secretary before


her aerospace career. In 1942, she received


a Bachelor of


beginning Science


degree in mathematics and physical science from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). After two years in the computing at Langley, Jackson received


pool


an offer to work in the 4-by-4-foot Supersonic Pressure


Tunnel, a


60,000-horsepower wind tunnel capable


conducting of blasting models with


winds approaching twice the speed of sound. There, she received hands-on experience


experiments.


Her supervisor eventually suggested she enter a training program that would


allow at Jackson to then-segregated earn a


promotion from mathematician to engineer. Because the classes were held


Hampton


High School, Jackson needed special permission to join her white peers in the classroom.


Jackson completed the courses,


earned the promotion, and in 1958 became NASA’s first African American female engineer. For nearly two decades during her engineering career, she authored or co-authored numerous research reports, most of which focused on the behavior of the


U.S. Senator Tim Kaine BY THE OFFICE OF SENATOR TIM KAINE WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S.


Senator Tim Kaine applauded Senate passage of the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that includes numerous critical wins for Virginia. The bill will now return to the House of Representatives. “Because of this bill, millions


of Virginians will receive a stimulus check, unemployment benefits will last through the summer, and 85,000 of the Commonwealth’s children will be lifted out of poverty,” said Kaine. “The past year has been dark, but with this much-needed relief and the acceleration of vaccinations, a brighter, healthier, more prosperous America is on the horizon.”


Provisions of the American


Rescue Plan include: Aid for unemployed workers: The bill extends federal


benefits until September, allowing Virginians who are out of work due to the pandemic pay bills while the economy continues


to support while recover and


jobs are not widely available. Senator Kaine has consistently supported expanded UI benefits and extending federal


the pandemic


continues. The nation is still down nearly 10 million jobs from when the pandemic started, and more than 250,000 Virginians would have been at risk of losing benefits in March and April without this extension. The bill also exempts the first $10,200 in UI benefits from federal taxes for low- and middle-income households, preventing surprise tax bills for out of work Virginians.


households:


Assistance for struggling The


bill increases the


size of the direct payments passed in December by another $1,400 per person, bringing the total to $2,000 per person. This round of direct checks will include adult dependents, as Senator Kaine has pushed for. The legislation


unemployment


also adds funding to the rental assistance passed in December and adds relief for homeowners at risk of foreclosure, similar to legislation cosponsored by Senator Kaine. Additionally, the bill will enhance the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), providing aid workers and families,


to low-income and lifting


millions out of poverty. More than 1.5 million Virginian children will benefit from the CTC expansion, including lifting 85,000 Virginian children out of poverty.


The bill includes $80 million to train health


Health care provider mental health: care professionals and public


safety officers in strategies to reduce and address suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral health conditions; $20 million for the CDC to carry out an education and awareness campaign to encourage


health care professionals


and first responders to seek support and treatment for their own behavioral health concerns, identify and respond to risk factors in themselves and others, and address stigma; and $40 million in grants for health care


providers


to establish or expand programs to promote mental and behavioral health among


their health professional


workforce. The provisions are modeled after the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection


Act, legislation


Kaine sponsored in honor of a physician from Charlottesville, Virginia, who died by suicide after working on the frontlines of the pandemic in New York. Supporting public health data


modernization: The bill provides $500 million to support and strengthen our public health


data surveillance and


analytics systems at the CDC. Kaine has long advocated for modernizing these systems so we can better respond to public health threats in real time, even before the pandemic. He was pleased his Saving Lives Through Better Data


RESCUE PLAN PAGE 14


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