Celebrating Influential Women in STEAM

Chien-Shiung Wu completing her physics research on beta decay.

Happy National STEAM Day (November 8)! Here are 5 women throughout history who have worked in the STEAM field:

Science: Chien-Shiung Wu was one of the pioneering members of physics’ history. She began as a Chinese immigrant to the United States. Her notability stems from her significant work on experimental physics as well as the Manhattan Project. She was born in a small town near to Shanghai, China and attended school despite a lack of education accessibility. She received a degree in Physics and was inspired by her mentor to pursue a further education in the US. Wu graduated from UC Berkeley with a PhD in physics following her immigration to the US. She taught physics at Princeton, then took a job at Columbia University, where she joined the Manhattan Project, which was working towards creating an atomic bomb during the WWII era. Post-war, Wu continued her research into beta decay and sickle-cell disease. She received numerous awards throughout her career and had an asteroid named after her. 

Technology: One of the most influential women in technology was Ada Lovelace. Lovelace is often celebrated as the world's first computer programmer. Lovelace is best known for her work on the early analytical engine. She wrote what was considered to be the first algorithm intended to be processed by the machine, which laid the groundwork for modern computing. Her program allowed machines to perform calculators, demonstrating its full potential beyond just number crunching. Lovelace’s contributions continue to inspire present-day young women interested in computer programming and technology today. 

Engineering: Edith Clarke was considered the first female engineer. She was born in 1883 in Ellicott City, Maryland. After studying at MIT, she became the first woman to earn a Masters in electrical engineering. She went on to work for She Electric as a computor, where she invented an early version of the graphing calculator. Clarke then got a job as an electrical engineer for the Central Station Engineering Department of General Electric, becoming the first woman to do so. During her career, she wrote multiple papers and textbooks and soon became a professor at the University of Texas. It’s phenomenal to see that Clarke took initiative to pursue a career she was passionate about, despite the fact that it was not normalized for women to work in the engineering field. 

Art: Georgia O’Keeffe, born in Wisconsin, was an American artist, known for her incorporation of emotion into her art style. She was a part of the Modernist movement, often depicting landscapes with a focus on natural elements such as flowers or bones in her pieces. A lot of her stylistic inspiration stemmed from a summer visit to New Mexico. She spent time living there in 1949 after an initial visit in 1929, and got to learn about the culture through its architecture, people and animal bones in the desert. Though she had always wanted to be an artist, ever since she was a child, she shifted over to an interest in teaching. O’Keeffe attended classes to become an art teacher, and started teaching at South Carolina’s Columbia College. However, one day her charcoal drawings caught the attention of photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who inspired her to continue creating. He in turn would display her pieces at his gallery in New York City. She is now one of the most well known American artists of all time. 

Math: Katherine Johnson was a mathematician at NASA, who played a key role in helping send astronauts to the moon. She started working at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ where she solved complex math problems for NASA’s engineers. One of Johnsons’ many accomplishments was her calculation of the path of Freedom 7, putting the first U.S. astronaut in space. Her contributions to space exploration have been globally recognized, as she won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. During a time of segregation in her workplace, Johnson preserved through these hardships while achieving great things.