Historic Women in STEM

Fatima bint Muhammad Al-Fihriyya Al-Qurashiya is the founder of the world’s first university: Al-Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morrocco. Her story was first recognized centuries after her death in The Garden of Pages (Rawd al-Qirtas) by Ibn Abi Zar’.  Born in 800 AD, Fatima had an immediate passion for learning and educating. Unlike many during her time, it is recorded that Fatima lived to an approximate age of eighty years which is credited to her strict diet and lifestyle. 

She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and it is noted that her family valued and prized education for all - including women. Early in her life, Fatima struggled with the loss of loved ones; less than a year after her marriage both her husband and her father passed. It was then that she and her sister inherited her father’s wealth as they had no male relatives remaining. 

She could have selfishly lived a lifestyle of luxury but instead vowed to support her immigrant community by building a Mosque and university that would cater to their religious and academic needs. 

The university initially started as a Mosque naming it after the exile of her people from Spain - but quickly became a place of academic discussion and exchange regarding The Holy Qur'an’s (the religious text followers of Islam base their faith off) intricate grammar and writing. 

Fatima Al Fihriyya established the concept of a location dedicated to the discussion and exchange of knowledge. Scholars around the world would travel to listen to lectures- it is believed that in her final years, Fatima was attending seminars to learn. The first official degree distributed by the universities to establish academic merit was administered by Al-Qarawiyyin. 

Early Algebra was initially developed in Fatima’s university - Pope Sylvester II even studied there and passed his knowledge into Europe. 

The knowledge spread in Al-Qarawiyyin University was later spread further around Europe and eventually motivated the development of major universities including the renowned Oxford University. 

Sources: 

https://www.stylist.co.uk/visible-women/fatima-al-fihri-founder-world-first-known-university-this-weeks-issue-430/224181 

https://www.arabamerica.com/the-true-story-of-fatima-al-fihri-the-founder-of-the-worlds-first-known-university/ 

https://womeninsciencepdx.org/2020/01/15/wisstory-fatima-al-fihri-founder-of-the-worlds-longest-standing-university/ 

Gwynne Shotwell is the current Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX. She holds a bachelor’s and master's degree from Northwestern University in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. The Illinois native originally sparked her interest in the engineering field after attending a Society of Women Engineers event at none other than our very own Illinois Institute of Technology. After seeing and hearing one of the engineers on the panel, she said “[she] fell in love with her” and “‘I’ll be her, and that’s why I became an engineer.” Today, Shotwell is listed as the 49th Most Powerful Women declared by Forbes, and is one of Times magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020, in addition to many other honors on different revered and competitive lists. 

Before reaching the many accolades and power status she has today, Shotwell began her career working for Chrysler Automotive Company. She worked in a variety of jobs here and enjoyed the hands on work, but ultimately decided that the automotive industry was not her true passion. Shotwell had decided to transition to the space industry where she got her start at The Aerospace Company in El Segundo, CA; however she still felt this company was also not the correct place for her as she desired a more hands-on job for herself. Therefore Shotwell moved onto her next adventure which took place at Microcosm Inc, a smaller space exploration company. During her time at Microcosm she grew the firm’s space systems business by a factor of 10. It was from here that she was discovered by Elon Musk, and she became the eleventh hire at SpaceX, a then relatively small and unknown company. While starting off in the position as Vice President of Business Development as well as a seat on the board of directors, Shotwell quickly rose up through the ranks to become the COO, as well as, an extremely integral part of the success of SpaceX. She has led the Falcon rocket family to over 100 launches, representing $10 billion dollars in assets in the process. 

Shotwell has also raised over $1.8 million dollars for STEM programs, which have reached thousands of students. In the future she can be seen as a champion of space exploration as she shares the same dream and passion as Elon Musk, in that she wishes to set up a moon base and interplanetary spacecraft for humans to travel on. 

Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier (1758-1836) was an early female chemist, who was a great contributor to her husband’s, Antione Laviosier, work. Shortly after marrying her husband, Paulze found interest within the chemical laboratory and she began to be an active participant in her husband’s work. She learned English just so she could translate her husband's works and connect him to investors in scientific research.

Her role in the laboratory is one of the main contributors to the success of her husband. She translated many texts from English to French in order for her husband to understand and with this he was able to come up with his scientific hypotheses as well as stay as a competitor in the scientific community.

Paulze documented all of Antione’s laboratory techniques and sketched visual representations of his work. Without her doings, the world would have never been exposed to the exact details of Antione’s work.

Her work is what made contemporaries understand and gain interest in his studied topics. She critiqued Antione’s findings and was able to annotate other scientists’ work to point out errors in which her husband could correct. She opened a network at a Paris salon for scientists to share their knowledge and openly debate those theories.

As most of us know, Antoine Laviosier is coined as ‘The Father of Modern Chemistry’, but what about his wife who made his work possible? Why do we not widely recognize Paulze as the ‘The Mother of Modern Chemistry’? Paulze was essential to the publishing of Elementary Treatise of Chemistry, the first chemistry textbook. Her work on this publication was crucial to creating the field of chemistry. This book is where many elements were classified and is most notable for addressing the concept of the conservation of mass. A. Lavioser relied on Paulze’s work, without her he was unable to understand the complex theories posed by other scientists.

Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier gave validity to all of her husband’s claims. Let’s take this month to acknowledge her powerful role in the foundations of chemistry that sometimes goes overlooked!

Sources:

https://scientificwomen.net/women/lavoisier-marie-anne-54 

https://biography.yourdictionary.com/marie-paulze-lavoisier 

Stephanie Shirley is a British information technology professional who created a 3 billion dollar tech business with an all-female, work-from-home staff. She writes about her journey in her memoir, "Let It Go". Steve Shirley refugee who arrived in Britain through Kindertransport as a child. 

She attended the Oswestry Girls' High School. She wanted to study mathematics but it was not available at her school. As a result, she took an assessment and studied at the boys' school. She did not go to university as Botanics was the only STEM major taught to girls. Instead, she worked at the Post Office Research Station, seeking a technical position. 

At her job, she always tried to apply her knowledge. She proposed technology for the post office and the workers and managers there wouldn't even hear her out, just based on her gender. She even tried to apply for a promotion at the post office that was long overdue after she received her degree in mathematics. In her autobiography, Let IT Go, she states "Word eventually reached me that men were resigning from the interview board that administered such matters than recommend me for promotion - they disapproved on principle of women holding managerial posts." It was truly heartbreaking to read how her dreams and pursuits kept on getting crushed because of how looked down upon women were in the technology sector at the time.

Because of her experiences with discrimination and sexual harassment, she created a software company for women called F.I. Group LLC. It was female-friendly and allowed flexibility for working from home and taking care of children. 297 of the initial 300 staff were women. She addresses herself by her nickname "Steve" because when she signed her letters with her real name, Stephanie, they were not answered.

In 1996, her company went public. It was valued at 3 billion dollars.

Shirley retired at the age of 60 and is the Chair of The Shirley Foundation which is a grant-giving foundation. The Shirley Foundation has given a significant amount of money for supporting Autism research.

Ellen Ochoa is the first Hispanic woman to travel into space in 1993. She was an astronaut and later became an administrator at NASA. Ellen Ochoa was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Ochoa went on to study Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, earning both her master’s degree and doctorate. She first began her work as a Research Engineer specializing in the development of optical systems at Sandia National Laboratories and the Ames Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

Her journey to becoming an astronaut began in 1990 when Ochoa was selected to participate in NASA’s astronaut program. When she later completed the program in 1991 she became the first Hispanic female astronaut. In April of 1993, she was the mission specialist aboard the STS-56 mission of the space shuttle Discovery. On this mission, Ochoa and other remission specialists were tasked to perform various experiments called ATLAS-2, which stands for Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-2. These experiments were conducted to study the Sun and its interactions with Earth’s atmosphere. She was later a part of the STS-66 Atlantis mission in November 1994. On the STS-66 mission, another group of experiments was carried out, ATLAS-3, which allowed Ochoa to refly previous experiments. She was later a part of a mission STS-96 Discovery, which executed the first docking to the International Space Station (ISS). Her final time into space was a return to the ISS in April of 2002, on the STS-110 mission Atlantis. Completing those four missions she spent a total of 40 days in space.

After doing many missions for NASA, she became the Deputy Director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Holding that position for six years, she was promoted to Director, being the second woman to hold that position and the first Hispanic to do so. Ochoa later retired in 2018 from the Johnson Space Center and became the Vice-chair of the National Science Board (NBS), which runs the National Science Fund. In 2020, she became the Chair for the NBS. 

Henrietta Lacks was an African American housewife and tobacco farm worker, but her 

contributions to science surpass the recognition of any occupation or prize. 

Initially, she sought medical care because of the extreme symptoms, despite being discouraged by her family, where she was diagnosed with cervical cancer which would later take her life.

Despite medical care being accessible in her region, the previous mistreatment of black communities in healthcare rightfully deterred her and many African Americans from seeking medical help and instead refer to non-conventional practices. 

As Henrietta feared, during her visit many of her health care rights were violated at the hands of a white male physician. He violated informed consent by collecting samples of her cancerous tissue and then used them for his research. 

Her cells were the first cells to live and reproduce unlimitedly in a laboratory setting. Her cells are credited as the first immortal human cell line. 

The unique immortality to her cells has contributed to multiple scientific breakthroughs including the polio vaccine, leukemia research, studying zero-gravity conditions, and much more. 

They are easily accessible and a general part of every health science laboratory. Investigations in her mistreatment as a patient redefined health care rights and patient treatment.

To this day, she is rarely recognized for her contributions to science. The cells are short-handed to HeLa, dismissing her name and life story. Her family was never compensated in any form, and instead, remain victims of African American exploitation in science. 

We honor and recognize Henrietta Lacks.

Mary Jackson was a mathematician and NASA’s first African American female engineer. Jackson was born and raised in Hampton, Virginia. She received a dual degree in math and physical sciences from Hampton Institute and went on to teach math in Maryland. 

She was recruited by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and was a “computer” at Langley. It is important to know how the definition of “computer” has changed over the past years. Initially, it was used to describe people who perform calculations. They were called computers. As technology advanced and machines that could perform calculations were created, these machines started to be called computers and this makes sense with the current definition that we use now.

Two years into her job, her supervisor suggested that she attends a training program that would allow her to be promoted to an engineer. The classes were segregated and she needed permission to enter. She received such permission and earned her promotion in 1958, becoming NASA’s first Black female engineer. She worked hard at her job and in 1979 she joined Langley’s Federal Women’s Program, where she worked to hire and promote females and NASA.

Mary Jackson passed away in 2005. In 2016, Margot Lee Shetterly published a book called Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the African American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race. Margot Lee Shetterly tells readers the history of Black Women at NASA in this book. These women were not publicized by NASA and they were hidden from history. Shetterly knew that Black women at NASA exist because she grew up in the same neighborhood as them, she knew their stories and wanted to share this with the world. In 2016, Hidden Figures was adapted into an award-winning biographical film.

We honor and recognize Mary Jackson.

Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was a Black Muslim minister and was an essential figure during the Civil Rights movement. 

He was critical of the Civil Rights Movement and the whole idea of "nonviolence". Why did Black people have to get White people's permission to do anything? Instead, he argued that they should defend themselves and do whatever is necessary to advance their cause. 

A lot of negativity associated with him is due to his involvement with the Nation of Islam (NOTE: This is not Islam, it is a completely skewed version of it). It preached extremist values such as believing that white people are the race of the devil.  But, Malcolm X realized it was not real Islam and left that religion. In 1964, he began following the actual religion of Islam. 

In 1964, Malcolm X was a key player in the Civil Rights Act. This act made it "illegal to separate people in public places or discriminate against anyone on based on their race, colour, religion, gender or national origin" (1)

In 1964, he also founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Unlike his previous teachings which relayed the message that the white race is the enemy of justice, he started preaching that racism is the enemy of justice.

Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965, by members of the Nation of Islam. Although Malcolm X had different views compared to other Civil Rights Figures, he still had their respect. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a telegram to Betty Shabazz after Malcolm X's murder, "…I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and the root of the problem. He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems we face as a race.”

We honor and recognize Malcolm X and his impact on the Civil Rights Movement.