Contact: Jack Bailey (304) 766-4109 Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University (WVSU) will host a memorial tribute Thursday, March 12, beginning at 12:30 p.m. for Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, pioneering NASA mathematician and WVSU alumna Katherine Johnson who passed away in February at age 101.
The memorial tribute will take place at the Katherine Johnson Plaza on the WVSU campus and will feature remarks from WVSU First Lady Toinette Jenkins as well as students and alumni.
Johnson died peacefully in her sleep, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, at the Hidenwood Retirement Community, Newport News, Virginia.
Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, the highest award that can be bestowed upon a civilian. A native of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Johnson first came to Institute at the age of 10 to attend the high school that used to be part of West Virginia State’s campus. After graduating from high school at age 15, she immediately enrolled in college classes at West Virginia State. Johnson excelled in her studies and graduated summa cum laude in 1937 at the age of 18 with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and French.
Johnson’s pioneering work as a “computer” at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and later at NASA, was widely recognized following publication of the book, “Hidden Figures,” and by the movie of the same name. As a computer, she calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Even after NASA began using electronic computers, John Glenn requested that she personally recheck the calculations before his flight aboard Friendship 7.
In her later NASA career, Johnson worked on the Space Shuttle program and the Earth Resources Satellite and encouraged students to pursue careers in science and technology fields. Johnson worked at the agency until 1986, when she retired after 33 years of service. During her tenure at NASA, she received many prestigious awards. Among them were the NASA Lunar Orbiter Award and three NASA Special Achievement Awards. She was named Mathematician of the Year in 1997 by the National Technical Association.
In September 2017, NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, named its newest building after her — The Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility.
On Aug. 25, 2018, the day before Johnson’s 100 birthday, WVSU dedicated an endowed scholarship and plaza featuring a statue in Johnson’s honor.
Johnson is survived by two daughters, Joylette Hylick, Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, and Katherine Moore, Greensboro, North Carolina, six grandchildren, Laurie Braxton (Gary), Troy Hylick (Lydia), K. Michele Sanders (Jenerio), Gregory Boykin (Zenaida), Douglas Boykin (Nicole), Michael Moore (Zellua) and 11 great-grandchildren. In addition, she leaves sisters-in-law, a brother-in-law, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, James A. Johnson, parents, Joshua and Joylette Coleman, daughter, Constance ‘Connie’ Garcia, and three siblings, Horace, Margaret, and Charles Coleman.
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