Mary Golda Ross
First Native American female engineer
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Key Takeaways
- Mary Golda Ross (August 9, 1908 – April 29, 2008) was a Cherokee and American aerospace engineer.
- She was one of the 40 founding engineers of the renowned and highly secretive Skunk Works project while at Lockheed Corporation.
- Ten years after her death, in 2018, Ross was chosen to be depicted on the 2019 Native American $1 Coin by the U.
- Early life and education Mary G.
- She was the great-granddaughter of the Cherokee Chief John Ross.
Mary Golda Ross (August 9, 1908 – April 29, 2008) was a Cherokee and American aerospace engineer. She worked at the Lockheed Corporation from 1942 until her retirement in 1973, where she was best remembered for her work on aerospace design. She was one of the 40 founding engineers of the renowned and highly secretive Skunk Works project while at Lockheed Corporation. Throughout her life, Ross was dedicated to the advancement of young women and Native Americans in STEM fields. Ten years after her death, in 2018, Ross was chosen to be depicted on the 2019 Native American $1 Coin by the U.S. Mint celebrating Native Americans in the space program.
Early life and education
Mary G. Ross was born in the small town of Park Hill, Oklahoma, the second of five children of William Wallace Ross Jr and Mary Henrietta Moore Ross. She was the great-granddaughter of the Cherokee Chief John Ross. John Ross was influential in the creation of the new settlement in Oklahoma following the removal of Native Americans from their land under Andrew Jackson. This settlement for the Cherokee Nation was complete with a school and government.
A talented child, she was sent to live with her grandparents in the Cherokee Nation capital of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, to attend primary and secondary school. When she was 16, Ross enrolled in Northeastern State Teachers' College in Tahlequah. She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1928, at age 20. In 1938, Ross received her master's degree in mathematics from Colorado State Teachers College, now known as the University of Northern Colorado, in Greeley. While obtaining her Master's, Ross still took as many astronomy classes as were offered to satisfy her intense fascination with space.
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