By Molly Friedman

As Indigenous Peoples’ Day approaches, here’s a chance to learn about Mary Golda Ross, the first Native American female engineer to help put people on the moon. A member of the Cherokee Tribe, she was the great-granddaughter of Chief John Ross, and lived until the ripe age of 99 years (and nine months!) old. Mary Golda Ross was a trailblazer and still serves as an inspiration to women and Native Americans in STEM fields to this day.

As a high school teacher, she taught math and science, and she went on to earn a Master’s degree in teaching with an emphasis in astronomy and rocket science. Some say that “it’s not rocket science,” but for Mary Golda Ross, it truly was. She taught students in her home state, Oklahoma, for nine years during the Great Depression.

Mary Golda Ross contributed to the fastest military airplane of the time, but she preferred working on interplanetary travel instead. She worked on designing spacecrafts and earth-orbiting flights, both with and without people inside. This was during the time of World War II, when it was rare for a company to keep a woman as an employee past the end of the war, but Mary Golda Ross continued to research and do what she loved.

Perhaps the most influential scientist of her time, Mary Golda Ross is an inspiration to people around the world.