Annie Easley

Annie Easley was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and rocket scientist.

She was born during the period of segregation in America but her mother always told her that she could be anything she wanted to be but would have to work at it, so

In 1955 Easley applied to work at NACA (what we know as NASA today) after seeing a newspaper advert about twin sisters working at the company. In order to continue her education Easley worked through specialization courses offered by NASA, however she was denied financial aid that other employees received for education, without explanation from the agency.she encouraged Easley to get a good education.

Her 34-year old career involved developing computer code that analyzed alternative power technologies that supported the Centaur upper rocket stage (swipe for video on Centaur!). Despite her long career and numerous contributions to research, she was cut out of NASA’s promotional photos. Easley’s work with the Centaur project helped lay the technological foundations for future space shuttle launches.

Throughout the 1970s Annie advocated for and encouraged female and minority students at college career days to work in STEM careers.