August 9 marks the 110th birthday of Mary G. Ross, the first Native American woman engineer who
made many contributions to the aerospace industry. Ross was born and raised
with Cherokee values in the
small town of Park Hill in Oklahoma. She received a degree in math from Northeastern State College, which was nontraditional for women at the time. After receiving her degree, Ross taught
for awhile until returning to school to earn her master's in math from Colorado State College of Education. In 1942, Ross was hired as a mathematician for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. Her talents were quickly realized,
and she was sent to UCLA to earn
classification in aeronautical engineering. She was then rehired by Lockheed
as their first female engineer. Some of her contributions include work on the Agena rocket, which was crucial to the Apollo program, and design concepts for SkunkWorks' plans of interplanetary
space travel. Ross encouraged other women and
Native Americans to pursue STEM fields
by establishing a scholarship in her name
for female engineers and technologists. She also worked closely with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, as well as the Council of Energy Resource Tribes.