Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 110th birthday of Mary G. Ross, the first Native American woman engineer. Over the course of her five-decade career, Ross achieved many firsts and made major contributions to the aerospace industry.
Here’s what to know about the trailblazer, born on Aug. 9, 1908, who opened the doors for future female engineers in the field.
Who Was Mary G. Ross?
Great-great granddaughter to Chief John Ross of the Cherokee Nation, Mary G. Ross was born in the small town of Park Hill in Oklahoma. Raised with the Cherokee value of learning, Ross pursued a path considered nontraditional for women. After receiving a degree in math from Northeastern State College, Ross taught math and science until she returned to school to earn her master’s in math from Colorado State College of Education.
What were her contributions to aerospace?
In 1942, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company hired Ross as mathematician. But after a manager recognized her talent, Ross was sent to UCLA to earn a classification in aeronautical engineering. Lockheed then rehired her as their first female engineer. Ross would go on to work on major projects such as the Agena rocket, which was a crucial step in the Apollo program to land on the moon. She also was a part of SkunkWorks, a top-secret 40-member think tank where she was the only women aside from the secretary. Ross’ work there involved developing initial design concepts for interplanetary space travel, including flyby missions to Venus and Mars.
“Often at night there were four of us working until 11 p.m.,” she once said according to Google. “I was the pencil pusher, doing a lot of research. My state of the art tools were a slide rule and a Frieden computer. We were taking the theoretical and making it real.”
Mary G. Ross Courtesy of Evelyn Ross McMillan/Google Doodle
How did she open the door for women?
Ross also devoted herself to encouraging women and Native Americans into careers in the field of STEM. She was a fellow of the Society of Women Engineers, where she established a scholarship in her name to support future female engineers and technologists. To support fellow Native Americans, Ross also worked closely with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Council of Energy Resource Tribes to develop their educational programs.
According to the National Science Foundation, only 0.1% of those working in science and engineering are female American Indians. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 8.1% of employed aerospace engineers are women.
Mary G. Ross died on April 29, 2008 at the age of 99.
Thursday’s Doodle depicts Ross’ portrait over a blueprint of the Agena rocket with the Earth and stars in the background.
Mary G. Ross, the first American Indian female engineer, and a highly regarded pioneer in her industry, is the subject of a Google Doodle honoring her 110th birthday.
The contributions of Mary G. Ross to the aerospace industry “include the development of concepts for interplanetary space travel, manned and unmanned earth-orbiting flights, and orbiting satellites,” Google noted.
Google called Mary G. Ross “a pioneer who reached for the stars and whose legacy continues to inspire others to do the same.” Mary Golda Ross was born on August 9, 1908 and is regarded as the first American Indian woman engineer.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Mary G. Ross Was the Great-Great Granddaughter of a Cherokee Nation Chief
Mary G. Ross is of Native American heritage as she is descended from a Cherokee Nation chief.
Ross was the “great-great granddaughter to Chief John Ross of the Cherokee Nation,” Google wrote on August 9, 2018.
Chief John Ross, according to The Smithsonian, “fought to preserve his nation from white settlers’ incursions—and later was forced to lead his people along the march that became known as the Trail of Tears.”
His great-great-granddaughter became her own force to be reckoned with.
According to The Smithsonian, in 1958, Ross – whose full name was Mary Golda Ross – “stumped the panelists on ‘What’s My Line?’ It took the actors Arlene Francis and Jack Lemmon, journalist Dorothy Kilgallen and publisher Bennet Cerf, celebrity panelists of the popular television game show, quite a while to figure out her M.O.”
According to The Smithsonian, Ross reconnected with her Native American roots only later in her life, but when she did she was known for “mentoring and supporting others in her field and calling attention to her heritage.”
When the Smithsonian opened the National Museum of the American Indian in 2004, Ross attended in ancestral dress and “left a bequest of more than $400,000 to the museum upon her death in 2008,” The Smithsonian Magazine reported.
2. She Had a Love for Rocket Science & Astronomy
According to Google, Mary G. Ross had math skills that “were surpassed only by her passion for aviation and the sciences. After teaching in Oklahoma for 9 years, she attended the University of Northern Colorado to pursue her master’s degree and love for astronomy and rocket science.”
During World War II, Ross “was hired by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation as a mathematician. It was there that she was encouraged to earn her professional certification in aeronautical engineering from UCLA in 1949, after which she broke new ground as one of the 40 founding members of the top-secret Skunk Works team,” Google wrote.
Her work on the team “included developing initial design concepts for interplanetary space travel (including flyby missions to Venus and Mars) and satellites including the Agena rocket (depicted in today’s Doodle),” wrote Google.
“Often at night there were four of us working until 11 p.m.,” she later recounted, Google noted.
“I was the pencil pusher, doing a lot of research. My state of the art tools were a slide rule and a Frieden computer. We were taking the theoretical and making it real.”
According to a biography of Ross, “Ross was later to remark that she had been brought up in the Cherokee tradition of equal education for both boys and girls. She was, however, the only girl in her math class, which did not seem to bother her. Indeed, her early interests were math, physics, and science.”
3. Mary G. Ross Was a Pioneer for Women & American Indians Hoping to Pursue Careers in STEM Fields
Mary G. Ross is considered a pioneer both for women and for American Indians interested in STEM fields.
“Leading by example, Ross also opened doors for future generations of women and American Indians by participating in efforts to encourage their pursuits in STEM fields, including being a member and Fellow of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE),” wrote Google.
According to Cherokee.org, Mary Golda Ross had “a lifetime of success in aerospace technology as the first woman engineer for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company.”\
“The accomplishments of Mary Golda Ross epitomize the Cherokee spirit,” said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, to Cherokee.org. “This exceptional woman was and will continue to be a great example to each of us. Her ambition and successes exemplify the importance of education and are evidence of the doors that can be opened through higher learning.”
4. A Scholarship Was Established in the Name of Mary G. Ross
Today MEP would like to highlight a Native American engineer named Mary G. Ross. Learn more about her and all of her accomplishments on our Facebook page: https://t.co/EjT21Np0fj pic.twitter.com/OdCpL9EQ2E — Purdue M.E.P. (@PurdueMEP) November 30, 2017
According to Google, there is a scholarship in the name of Mary G. Ross that aims to encourage other women to become engineers.
“In 1992 the SWE established a scholarship in Ross’s name, which aims to support future female engineers and technologists, including Aditi Jain, a current Google Maps engineer,” wrote Google, quoting Jain as saying, “More than money, it gave me confidence. I don’t think I considered myself an engineer until I received the scholarship.”
Cherokee.org reports that Ross “taught school in Oklahoma for nine years. Ross then went on to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Washington D.C.”
5. The Family of Mary G. Ross Helped Create the Google Doodle
November is National Native American Heritage month. Mary G. Ross is widely credited as the first female Native American Engineer. pic.twitter.com/uikruX8HWC — USACE HQ (@USACEHQ) November 8, 2017
Google gave “special thanks to both the family of Mary G. Ross and the Society of Women Engineers for their partnerships on this project.”
According to Google, Jeff Ross, nephew of Mary G. Ross, shares his thoughts on his aunt’s legacy:
The Ross family is excited that Google has chosen Mary G. Ross for a Doodle on her 110th birthday. A proud Cherokee woman and the great-great granddaughter of Chief John Ross, Mary is an excellent role model for young women and American Indians everywhere. Her accomplishments are a testament to her determination and love for education. Our hope as a family is that her story inspires young people to pursue a technical career and better the world through science.
Mary G. Ross died in 2008 at the age of 99.
A trailblazing engineer and mathematician known for the crucial role in developing the technology that launched the American space program, Mary Golda Ross was born 110 years ago today.
As a mathematician at the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Ross was tasked with researching the effects of atmospheric pressure on P-38 Lightning fighter planes as they approached the sound barrier just after America had entered the Second World War.
The subject of the latest Google Doodle, later became better known for her preliminary designs for interplanetary space travel and manned and unmanned earth-orbiting craft.
A stalwart of the Society of Women Engineers, it began offering a scholarship in her name in 1992.
But while she remains revered in her field, her roots were humble.
Born in Park Hill, Oklahoma, on 9 August 1908, Ross was the great-granddaughter of the 19th century Cherokee chief John Ross. She would later become a much-admired ambassador for the Native American community.
“I was brought up in the Cherokee tradition of equal education for boys and girls,” she said of her time at school in Tahlequah, capital of the Cherokee Nation in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains.
She attended Northeastern State Teachers’ College in Tahlequah at 16 and earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics aged 20, before embarking on a career as a high school teacher in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression and working as a civil servant with the US Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC.
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celebrating Sir William Henry Perkin Google 17/101 Gabriel Garcia Marquez Google Doodle celebrating Gabriel Garcia Marquez Google 18/101 Holi Google Doodle celebrating Holi Google 19/101 St. David's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google 20/101 Carter G Woodson Google Doodle celebrating Carter G Woodson Google 21/101 Wilder Penfield Google Doodle celebrating Wilder Penfield Google 22/101 Virginia Woolf Google Doodle celebrating Virginia Woolf Google 23/101 Sergei Eisenstein Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Eisenstein Google 24/101 Winter Solstice Google Doodle celebrating Winter Solstice Google 25/101 St Andrew's Day Google Doodle celebrating St Andrew's Day Google 26/101 Gertrude Jekyll Google Doodle celebrating Gertrude Jekyll Google 27/101 Children's Day 2017 Google Doodle celebrating Children's Day 2017 Google 28/101 Cornelia Sorabji Google Doodle celebrating Cornelia Sorabji Google 29/101 Pad Thai Google Doodle celebrating Pad Thai Google 30/101 Jackie Forster Google 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125th birthday Google 63/101 Caroling Google Doodle celebrates Christmas caroling Google 64/101 Today's Google Doodle features activist Steve Biko Google 65/101 Walter Cronkite Google celebrates Walter Cronkite's 100th birthday 66/101 Ladislao José Biro Google celebrates Ladislao José Biro 117th birthday 67/101 Google Google celebrates its 18th birthday 68/101 The history of tea in Britain Google celebrates the 385th anniversary of tea in the UK 69/101 Autumnal equinox 2016 Google marks the start of fall 70/101 Paralympics 2016 Google marks the start of the Paralympic Games 2016 71/101 Nettie Stevens Google celebrates Nettie Stevens 155th birthday 72/101 Father's Day 2016 Google celebrates Father's Day 73/101 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Google celebrates Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 180th birthday 74/101 Earth Day 2016 Google celebrates Earth Day 75/101 Ravi Shankar Google marks Pandit Ravi Shankar's 96th birthday 76/101 Olympic Games in 1896 Google are celebrates the 120th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games in 1896 77/101 World Twenty20 final Google celebrates the 2016 World Twenty20 cricket final between the West Indies and England with a doodle Google 78/101 William Morris Google celebrates William Morris' 182 birthday with a doodle showcasing his most famous designs Google 79/101 St Patrick's Day 2016 Googlle celebrates St Patrick's Day on 17 March 80/101 Caroline Herschel Google marks Caroline Herschel's 266th birthday Google 81/101 Clara Rockmore Google celebrates Clara Rockmore's 105th birthday 82/101 International Women's Day 2016 #OneDayIWill video marks International Woman's Day on 8 March 83/101 St David's Day 2016 Google marks St David's Day Google 84/101 Leap Year 2016 Google celebrates Leap Day on 28 February 2 Google 85/101 Lantern Festival 2016 Google celebrates the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations with a doodle of the Lantern Festival Google 86/101 Stethoscope Inventor, René Laennec Google celebrate's René Laennec's 235th birthday 87/101 Valentine's Day 2016 Google celebrates Valentine's Day with a romantic Doodle 88/101 Dmitri Mendeleev Google celebrate Dmitri Mendeleev's 182nd birthday 89/101 "The televisor" demonstartion Google Doodle celebrates 90 years since the first demonstration of television or "the televisor" to the public 90/101 Professor Scoville Google marks Professor Scoville’s 151st birthday 91/101 Sophie Taeuber-Arp Google marks Sophie Taeuber-Arp's 127th birthday 92/101 Charles Perrault Google celebrates author Charles Perrault's 388th birthday 93/101 Mountain of Butterflies discovery Google celebrates the 41st anniversary of the discovery of the Mountain of Butterflies 94/101 Winter Solstice 2015 Google celebrate the Winter Solstice 95/101 St Andrew's Day 2015 Google marks St Andrew's Day with doodle featuring Scotland's flag and Loch Ness monster 96/101 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy' Google marks the 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy', the name given to a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species, who lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago 97/101 George Boole Google marks George Boole's 200th birthday 98/101 Halloween 2015 Google celebrates Halloween using an interactive doodle game "Global Candy Cup" 99/101 Prague Astronomical Clock Google celebrates the 605th anniversary of the Prague Astronomical Clock, one of the oldest functioning timepieces in the world 100/101 Autumnal Equinox 2015 Google marks the autumnal equinox on 23 September 101/101 International Women's Day 2018 Google marks IWD with a doodle featuring a dozen female artists from 12 different countries
In 1938, she completed her master’s degree at Colorado State Teachers College in Greeley. It was there that she developed a fascination with astronomy.
“Math was more fun than anything else. It was always a game to me,” she later recalled. “I was the only female in my class. I sat on one side of the room and the guys on the other side of the room. I guess they didn’t want to associate with me. But I could hold my own with them and sometimes did better.
“To function efficiently in today’s world, you need math. The world is so technical, if you plan to work in it, a math background will let you go farther and faster.”
Ross joined Lockheed in Burbank, California, in 1942, where she completed additional aeronautical and mechanical courses at UCLA in tandem with her work on high-speed fighter jets.
She was studying the feasibility and performance of defence missile and satellite systems and later became one of the 40 founder members of the company’s ”Skunk Works” team, assigned to secret projects.
She co-authored Nasa’s Planetary Flight Handbook at this time and analysed theory on Mars fly-bys. Much of her work in this field remains classified.
“Often at night there were four of us working until 11pm,” she said of her time at Lockheed. “I was the pencil pusher, doing a lot of research. My state of the art tools were a slide rule and a Friden computer. We were taking the theoretical and making it real.”
Regarded as “one of the boys”, she retired from Lockheed in 1973, working thereafter to improve the lives of Native Americans on the Council of Energy Resource Tribes and the American Indian and Science and Engineering Society.
She died aged 99 in Los Altos, California, in April 2008, leaving behind a $400,000 (£310,000) donation to The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, which she had helped open three years earlier.
One of the museum’s prize exhibits is an oil portrait of Ms Ross by Cherokee artist America Meredith, looking out on a satellite in the night sky.
