Mary Golda Ross
Mary Golda Ross (August 9, 1908 – April 29, 2008) was the first Native American female engineer, as well as the first female engineer in Lockheed's history. She was one of the 40 founding engineers of Lockheed Corporation's legendary and highly classified Skunk Works project. She worked at Lockheed from 1942 until 1973, where she was best known for her work on aerospace design, including the Agena Rocket program, as well as numerous "design concepts for interplanetary space travel, crewed and uncrewed Earth-orbiting flights, and the earliest studies of orbiting satellites for both defense and civilian purposes". In 2018, she was chosen to be depicted on the 2019 Native American $1 Coin by the U.S. Mint celebrating American Indians in the space program.
The F-104 Starfighter (the first operational aircraft capable of reaching speeds twice the speed of sound), the U-2 high-altitude spy plane, and the first stealth aircraft are just a few of the aerospace innovations that emerged from the Skunk Works—and they are most likely among the hundreds or thousands of top-secret projects Ross worked on at Lockheed. She could talk about her job at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which included designing spacecraft, contributing to NASA's space travel guide, and driving the space race.
Detailed information:
Born: August 9, 1908
Died: April 29, 2008 (aged 99)
Alma mater:
- Northeastern State Teachers' College
- Bachelor's degree in mathematics, 1928
- Colorado State Teachers College in Greeley
- Master's degree in mathematics, 1938
Known for: First Native American female engineer
Awards:
- Silicon Valley Engineering Council’s Hall of Fame, 1992
- Fellow and life member of the Society of Women Engineers