Dorothy Vaughan
An American mathematician who worked for NASA and was one of the agency's first African-American managers.
Most quoted
"I saw the writing on the wall and I got into the computer business. I'm not going to sit around and wait for them to tell me what to do."
— from Biography/Interviews, 1960
"Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men."
— from Interview, 1980
"I always said, 'If you're going to do something, do it right.' Especially if it's sending someone into space."
— from Fictionalized accounts/interpretations
All quotes by Dorothy Vaughan (374)
We worked behind the scenes, but the scenes wouldn't have happened without us.
I didn't fight the system; I learned to work within it until I could change it.
My legacy is the women I taught and the work we did.
There's a satisfaction in solving a problem no one else could.
We didn't have the title, but we had the knowledge.
The path wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
I focused on the work, not the obstacles.
We were meticulous because lives depended on it.
I became a supervisor because someone had to lead.
The machine was just a tool; the mind behind it was what mattered.
You don't wait for an invitation; you make yourself indispensable.
Our calculations were the foundation.
I taught myself what I needed to know to stay relevant.
We were the unseen force behind the space race.
Contemporaries of Dorothy Vaughan
Other Mathematicss born within 50 years of Dorothy Vaughan (1910–2008).