# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/katherine-johnson
# Generated: 2026-09-01T05:02:58.863Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/katherine-johnson"
name: "Katherine Johnson"
slug: "katherine-johnson"
description: "She did the math that put Americans in space — by hand. Before computers were trusted, NASA trusted Katherine Johnson's calculations for trajectories, launch windows, and the paths that brought astronauts home."
tagline: "African-American mathematician"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Katherine_Johnson_1983.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "female"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1918-08-26"
deathDate: "2020-02-24"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           64.98
  momentum:             15
  historical:           27.40146
  currentAttention:     100
  sourceConfidence:     70
  profileCompleteness:  80
  trendDirection:       "BREAKOUT"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Scientists"
    slug: "scientists"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Physics"
    slug: "physics"
  - name: "Mathematics"
    slug: "mathematics"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "United States"
    slug: "united-states"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7394341/"
    handle:    "nm7394341"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "https://katherinejohnson.net"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11740"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Katherine%20Johnson"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86_%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "كاثرين جونسون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%8A%D0%BD"
    title: "Катрин Джонсън"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8_%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%A8"
    title: "ক্যাথারিন জনসন"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnsonov%C3%A1"
    title: "Katherine Johnsonová"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%BD%2C_%D0%9A%D1%8D%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD"
    title: "Джонсон, Кэтрин"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9A%CE%AC%CE%B8%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BD_%CE%A4%CE%B6%CF%8C%CE%BD%CF%83%CE%BF%CE%BD"
    title: "Κάθριν Τζόνσον"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "کاترین جانسون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gd.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9F_%D7%92'%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%9F"
    title: "קתרין ג'ונסון"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Katherine Johnson"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%94%D5%A5%D5%A9%D6%80%D5%AB%D5%B6_%D5%8B%D5%B8%D5%B6%D5%BD%D5%B8%D5%B6"
    title: "Քեթրին Ջոնսոն"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86_%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ca.wikiquote.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://id.wikiquote.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Creola Katherine Johnson was born August 26, 1918, and became one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist during a 33-year career that began at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. She mastered complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the shift to electronic computing for tasks humans once performed. Her work spanned Project Mercury — including flights for Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and John Glenn, the first American in orbit — through Apollo's lunar rendezvous paths, the Space Shuttle program, and plans for a Mars mission. In 2015 President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom; Taraji P. Henson portrayed her in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. Congress gave her the Congressional Gold Medal in 2019, and NASA named a facility in West Virginia for her. She died February 24, 2020, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame the following year.