Katherine Freese was born on February 8, 1957 in Freiburg, Germany. She is best known for her work in theoretical astrophysics, and her contributions to early research on dark matter transformed her field.
Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was born on December 9, 1906 in New York City. She is best known for her work in computer science and her rank in the United States Navy as a rear admiral. She was a pioneer in the theory behind machine-independent programming, and the language she developed (FLOW-MATIC) was the predecessor to an important programming language, COBOL, which is still used today.
Joan Clarke, the famous English cryptanalyst, was born on June 24, 1917 to Dorothy Clarke and the Reverend William Kemp Lowther Clarke. She is best known for her role as a code-breaker during the World War II, where she worked to decrypt secret communications from Nazi Germany.
Born in 1902, Eleanor “Barbara” McClintock was an American cytogeneticist who changed the field of medicine with her research. Like many women, McClintock’s legacy is one of persistence. She believed in her own knowledge and research, never backing down despite flying in the face of prevailing theory. McClintock became the first woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize in 1983, and she was also awarded the National Medal of Science by President Nixon in 1970.
Maryam Mirzakhani, known for her outstanding accomplishments in the field of mathematics, was born in Tehran, Iran on May 12, 1977. Her most impactful contributions to to the field came through her research in Teichmüller theory, ergodic theory, hyperbolic geometry, and symplectic geometry.
Radia Joy Perlman was born on December 18, 1951 to Julius Perlman, an engineer, and Rae Sonne, a mathematician and computer programmer. She was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, while her parents were working as contractors for the United States government, but she spent most of her childhood in Loch Arbour, New Jersey.
Mae Carol Jemison is a role model for aspiring astronauts everywhere. She is an American physician, engineer, and former NASA astronaut. At NASA, she worked as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Endeavor. She joined NASA in 1987, and she is the first black woman to travel into space.
Rebecca J. Cole was born on March 16, 1846 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is widely known for her roles as an American physician, social activist, and organizational leader. In 1867, she graduated from medical school as the second African-American female in the United States to become a doctor. She overcame a tremendous amount of racial and gender barriers in her lifetime to provide essential medical services to impoverished women and children in need.
Adriana Ocampo was born in Barranquilla, Colombia in 1955 to Teresa and Victor Ocampo. She is most well known for her role as a planetary geologist and Science Program Manager with NASA. She was raised as a young child in Argentina until the age of 14, when her family moved to Pasadena, California. Upon landing in the United States, she reports that her first question was “Where’s NASA?”
