Annie Easley

Computer Scientist and Mathematician, 1933 - 2011

Annie J. Easley (April 23, 1933 – June 25, 2011) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and rocket scientist. She worked for the Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). She was a leading member of the team which developed software for the Centaur rocket stage, and was one of the first African-Americans to work as a computer scientist at NASA.

A timeline of Annie Easley's life:

• 1933 - Born in Birmingham, Alabama
• 1942 - In a time where African-American children were educated separately from white children, and their schools were often inferior to white schools. Annie's mother told her that she could be anything she wanted but she would have to work at it. She encouraged Annie to get a good education. From the fifth grade through high school, Annie attended Holy Family High School, and was valedictorian of her graduating class.
• 1950 - Annie enrolled in classes at Xavier University in New Orleans, which was then an African-American Roman Catholic University, and majored in pharmacy for about two years.
• 1954 - She returned to Birmingham. As part of the Jim Crow laws that maintained racial inequality, African Americans were required to pass a literacy test and pay a poll tax in order to vote, which was outlawed in 1964. She remembered the test giver looking at her application and saying only, "You went to Xavier University. Two dollars." Subsequently, she helped other African-Americans prepare for the test.
• 1955 - Annie read a story in a local newspaper about twin sisters who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as "computers". She applied for a job the next day, and was hired two weeks later - one of four African Americans of about 2500 employees. She began her career as a mathematician and computer engineer at the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory (which became NASA Lewis Research Center, 1958–1999, and subsequently the John H. Glenn Research Center) in Cleveland, Ohio.
• 1977 - She continued her education while working for the agency, and in 1977, obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Cleveland State University. As part of a continuing education, Easley worked through specialization courses offered by NASA. Easley was denied financial aid that other employees received for education, without explanation from the agency. The decision to go to school felt right, but continuing her work at NACA while attending classes was challenging:
  
  "I did much more than I thought I could ever do because I signed up for two classes, while working", she said. Eventually, she took three classes at a time, which was considered a fulltime course load by Cleveland State.
• 1989 - Retired from NASA, and spent her retirement years tutoring, volunteering for community organizations, and taking on new passions, including skiing.
• 2001 - Annie Easley was interviewed in Cleveland on August 21, 2001 by Sandra Johnson. The interview is stored in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center Oral History Program. The 55 page interview transcript includes material on the history of the Civil Rights Movement, Glenn Research Center, Johnson Space Center, space flight, and the contribution of women to space flight.
• 2011 - Died June 25, 2011 (aged 78) in Cleveland, Ohio.

Read more about this incredible woman on the NASA website.