Born in 1918 in the small town of White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, Johnson was a research mathematician who, by her own admission, was simply fascinated by numbers. Fascinated by numbers and smart to boot, because at age 10 she was in her first year of high school, a truly incredible feat at a time when school for African Americans normally ended at eighth grade for that they can afford this luxury. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayFormer NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson is seen after President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, on Tuesday, November 24, 2015, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Her father, Joshua, was determined that his bright little girl would have a chance to fulfill her potential. He drove his family 120 miles to Institute, West Virginia, where they were able to continue their education through high school. Johnson's academic performance proved that her father's decision was the right one: Katherine skipped grades to graduate from high school at 14, and from college at 18. In 1953, after years as a teacher and later as a stay-at-home mother, she began working for NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA. NACA had taken the unusual step of hiring women for the tedious and precise work of measuring and calculating wind tunnel test results in 1935. In an era before the electronic computers we know today, these women had the title of “computer”. » During World War II, NACA expanded its efforts to include African American women. NACA was so pleased with the results that, unlike many organizations, it kept the women's computers at work after the war. By 1953, the growing demands of early space research meant there were openings for African-American computers in the Langley Research Center's Guidance and Navigation Department - and Katherine Johnson found the perfect place to bring took advantage of his extraordinary mathematical skills. As a computer, she calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Even after NASA began using electronic computers, John Glenn asked him to personally double-check the calculations made by the new electronic computers before his flight aboard Friendship 7 – the mission on which he became the first American to orbit the Earth. She continued to work at NASA until 1986, combining her talents in mathematics with her skills in electronic computing. His calculations proved as crucial to the success of the Apollo moon landing program and the start of the Space Shuttle program as they were to the country's first steps in space travel. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper template now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayHonorary doctorates at the 1967 NASA Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft and Operations Team Award (for pioneering work in the field of navigation problems supporting all five spacecraft spacecraft that orbited and mapped the moon in preparation for the Apollo program) Katherine Johnson led a life of honor. But on Tuesday, November 24, 2015, she will receive the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Barack H. Obama. Works Cited: Abrams, MH.