In June 1944, inside the control room of the Engine Research Building in Cleveland, Ohio, female technicians and computers monitored instrument readouts during aircraft engine tests. The facility—the predecessor to NASA’s Glenn Research Center—was undergoing a massive wartime expansion. Between 1943 and 1944, female employment at the laboratory nearly doubled as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) expanded its research capacity.
The Wartime Influx and Early Computation
Women's contributions at the center began in 1941 when it was first established under NACA. During World War II, an influx of female employees was hired as technicians, administrative staff, and human computers to perform the manual mathematical work needed for engine testing. Supervising much of this calculation effort was Christine Truax, a former educator from Mississippi who managed the center’s computation activities from 1942 to 1967. Over her 25-year tenure, Truax trained young staffers in complex numerical procedures, enabling personnel without formal college degrees to carry out calculations required for computational research.
Post-War Research and Physical Sciences
In the 1950s and 1960s, the center shifted toward advanced research in propulsion, power systems, and physical chemistry. Women increasingly entered specialized scientific roles as chemists and physicists. Frances Dunkel Coffin joined the lab in 1951 after earning her PhD in physical chemistry from Cornell University. For 20 years at the center, Coffin conducted fundamental studies in thermodynamics and crystallography, advancing research into high-energy fuels and nuclear power.
Operational support grew alongside scientific research. S. Jenise Veris joined NASA in 1993 as a staff member in the Power Technology Division. She later moved into technical communication, serving as a writer and editor for the center's newsletter for 25 years until her retirement in 2020.
Advocacy and Engineering Management
As female representation expanded across technical fields in the 1960s and 1970s, internal advocacy groups emerged. Employees established the NASA Lewis Business and Professional Women's Club (BPW) to support professional development and recognize achievements. In June 1977, the club elected a set of officers representing various divisions: secretary June Szucs, executive secretary Del Zatroch, aerospace engineer Loretta Shaw, and division secretary Jean Bertoia.
By the 1980s, women were managing complex engineering programs. Sandy Reehorst joined the center in 1985 and went on to oversee critical systems for the International Space Station, including flight software development and photovoltaic power module testing. She held several management roles and eventually became the center's deputy chief technologist before retiring in 2018.
Directorates and Center Leadership
Executive leadership opened to women in the 1990s. In 1993, Carol Russo became the first woman to head a directorate at the facility when she was named director of Aeronautics, leading advanced propulsion research. Higher executive positions followed in the 21st century. Former astronaut Janet Kavandi, who flew on three shuttle flights, served as Glenn’s first female center director from 2015 to 2019.
In 2020, Marla Pérez-Davis was appointed center director, having originally joined the institution in 1983 as a chemical engineer focused on power storage systems. Her appointment marked the culmination of an eight-decade progression, shifting women's involvement from wartime computation support to full executive authority over aerospace research.
AI-generated editorial illustration; not a documentary photograph.
Source: NASA Glenn History Includes Contributions of Women in Aerospace Research
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