Mary G. Ross was the first known American Indian female engineer, and on what would have been her 110th birthday, Google is honoring her life and contributions with a Google doodle, a special Google logo. She was born on August 9, 1908, in Park Hill, Oklahoma, and died on April 29, 2008, at the age of 99. She is best known for her contributions to the aerospace industry.
At Lockheed Corporation, Ross worked on the preliminary design concepts for interplanetary space travel, manned and unmanned earth-orbiting flights and the earliest studies of orbiting satellites for both defense and civilian purposes. She also was one of the 40 founding engineers of the Skunk Works, a division within the company.
Google wrote, “Today’s Doodle celebrates the 110th birthday of Mary G. Ross, the first American Indian female engineer, whose major contributions to the aerospace industry include the development of concepts for interplanetary space travel, manned and unmanned earth-orbiting flights, and orbiting satellites. Here’s to Mary G. Ross, a pioneer who reached for the stars and whose legacy continues to inspire others to do the same.”
The doodle shows her face among her diagrams against a background of space and stars.
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Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land’s News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics.