MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia University has established a scholarship honoring pioneering Black mathematician Katherine Johnson.
The scholarship will benefit students studying math or science within the university’s College of Arts and Sciences, WVU said in a news release Wednesday.
WVU alumna Deborah Miller established the endowed Katherine Johnson Math Scholarship. It will be awarded to undergraduates with preference given to Black students.
Johnson died Feb. 24 in Newport News, Virginia. She was among the first Black students to attend WVU, where she did graduate work after earning bachelor’s degrees at West Virginia State College.
Johnson calculated rocket trajectories and earth orbits for NASA’s early space missions and was portrayed in the 2016 hit film “Hidden Figures.”
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