Women in Computer Science

Find out all about women who have made a contribution to Computer Science.

Katherine Johnson (1918 – 2020)

A mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights.

Katherine was represented in the 2016 film “Hidden Figures” about African American female mathematicians who worked at NASA during the Space Race. in the 1960s Katherine found herself at the heart of America’s space programme working as a “Human computer” calculating long series of numbers as electronic computers were not widely used at the time. All the “Computers” were women as the tasks they were given were considered too boring and unimportant for men.