Katherine G. Johnson

George Mason University will honor trailblazing former NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson in the days following her death on Monday morning. She was 101.

Katherine G. Johnson overcame institutional racism and sexism to help put the first men on the moon and carve a path for women and people of color in science and space exploration. Now students at George Mason University will know her story every time they step onto the Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Virginia.

George Mason University will rename the largest building on its Science and Technology Campus in honor of former NASA mathematician Katherine G. Johnson, who as an African American woman overcame racism and sexism to help lead the United States into a new era of space exploration.