THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Mary Golda Ross
August 9, 1908 – April 29, 2008
“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. I could hold my own with them.”
First Native American female engineer, aerospace pioneer. Taught mathematics and science in Cherokee schools through the Great Depression. Hired as a mathematician at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, 1942. Original founding member, Lockheed’s secret Advanced Development Program, “Skunk Works,” 1952. Became a senior advanced systems staff engineer, late 1960s. Worked on designing fighter jets and large planes, defense systems, space exploration relating to the Apollo program, the Polaris reentry vehicle and interplanetary space probes. Member, Society of Women Engineers since 1950s. Worked to recruit young women and Native American youth into engineering careers. Bachelor’s degree, mathematics, Northeastern State Teachers’ College in Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, 1928. Master’s degree, mathematics, Colorado State Teachers College (now Northern Colorado University), 1938.
More About Mary:
- Memorial, Pure ‘Cherokee gold’ by Betty Smith, June 2008
- Historic Trailblazer: Mary Golda Ross, 2021
- Mary Golda Ross and the Skunk Works, The National WWII Museum, New Orleans
- Mary Golda Ross, The Glinda Factor
- “Mary Golda Ross: She Reached for the Stars,” NMAI Magazine
- Olay erects statue of rocket engineer Mary Golda Ross to promote STEM equity
- Mary G. Ross–First American Indian Woman Engineer–Appears on ‘What’s My Line?’
- An Interview with Mary Ross, by Laurel M. Sheppard