How NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Blasted Past Men Standing In Her Way – Investor’s Business Daily

Women scientists in the 1950s and 1960s faced discouragement from school counselors, hostility from professors and discrimination in the workplace. Good thing some, like NASA's Nancy Grace Roman, ignored it all.

Roman was NASA's first chief of astronomy, man or woman. She earned the title in 1960, after joining the agency in 1959. She was also its first female executive. She's best known as the mother of the Hubble telescope. And last year, NASA announced it was naming its new wide field infrared survey telescope (WFIRST) in honor of Roman as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It is scheduled to launch in 2027.

Her love of exploration, and goal of dedicating her life to it, blasted past petty politics and blatant sexism. "If you enjoy puzzles, science or engineering may be the field for you," Roman told an interviewer. "Scientific research ... is a continuous series of solving puzzles."

Roman's journey shows how to thwart discrimination by jumping jobs when necessary and building your profile. And her success at NASA demonstrates that leadership is about excellence and persistence. It isn't a popularity contest.

Roman hired Dr. Ed Weiler, NASA's retired associate administrator for science, in his first job at the agency. Weiler told Investor's Business Daily that Roman commanded respect and was a born leader. "When she told you to do something, you did it," he said. "She was tough. And if you didn't like her, she couldn't care less."

Roman's career in astronomy spanned decades she spent 21 years at NASA. She passed away in 2018 at the age of 93. But her legacy of telescope and satellite launches, and the resulting breakthroughs in astronomical science, lives on here on earth and in the skies above.

Roman's father was a scientist. But her mother, a music teacher, inspired her love of astronomy by showing her the night sky. "She showed me the constellations and the auroras," Roman told an interviewer.

At just 11 years old,Romanformed an astronomy club with her school classmates to study the constellations.By high school she knew she wanted to pursue a career in astronomy."I knew itwas going to take me another 12 years of schooling, but I figured I'd try and if I didn't make it, I could teach physics or math," she said.

Others didn't agree with Roman's choice, including women. In high school she asked her guidance counselor for permission to take a second year of algebra, instead of a fifth year of Latin. "She looked down her nose at me, sneered (and said) 'What lady would take mathematics instead of Latin?' " Roman said.

Things didn't get easier when she attendedSwarthmore College. Roman said the dean of women was hostile toward women pursuing science: "If you insisted on majoring in science or engineering, she wouldn't have anything more to do with you."

After Swarthmore, in 1946 she went to the University of Chicago for graduate studies in astronomy.In1949,she received her Ph.D. in astronomy.

During her career, Roman faced more sexism. She'd sometimes use the prefix "Dr." with her name because "otherwise, I couldn't get past the secretaries."

After receiving her Ph.D., Roman continued her research at the University of Chicago as a research associate and then later an assistant professor. But there were two problems with the position. "I didn't think I could get tenure as a research astronomer (due to sexism)," she said. "(And) I like teaching very much, but I didn't want to dojustteaching."

So, in 1954, she went around the glass ceiling instead of trying to smash through it. Roman took a position at the Naval Research Laboratory in radio astronomy. She studied the structure of the Milky Way. While at NRL, she spoke at a number of events around the world.

Another power move for her career: Be visible. Those speeches upped her recognition among the astronomy community in the U.S., including NASA.

"She was really a pretty amazing individual she liked science and she liked to get things done," said Neta Bahcall, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy atPrinceton University.

Roman quickly gained respect at NASA. She worked on a number of projects, including the development of several orbiting observatories. And during that first year the idea of a space telescope was considered. That type of telescope was first proposed in 1946 in a paper by Princeton astronomer Lyman Spitzer.

Roman began building the base for Hubble early in her career at NASA. And she picked up a number of tips.

First, give astronomy lectures around the U.S. Find out what other astronomers want to study. Many astronomers were resistant to space-based astronomy. Roman worked to convince them of the advantages of observing the skies from above the Earth's murky atmosphere. She also showed them the benefits of a NASA-based space astronomy program, vs. one controlled by a single university or research organization.

Second, take input to gain more advocates. In 1971, Roman set up the Science Steering Group for the Hubble Space Telescope. It was named after Edwin Hubble, an astronomer who in the 1920s discovered galaxies beyond ours. She tapped both NASA engineers and astronomers from across the country to serve on it.

Third, listen to ideas but discard the bad ones. Roman figured out how to do that without alienating too many scientists. Part of her work on Hubble was to reject design ideas she and other NASA scientists found impractical. One bad idea? A moon-based telescope (too much dust) or a manned space telescope (too much wobble).

Lastly, get astronomers outside of NASA to convince Congress to fund Hubble. Funding sparked the most powerful space telescope the world had ever seen.

Roman was also responsible for ending NASA projects that weren't viable. "She was a no-nonsense person, very blunt and honest," said Bahcall, whose husband, John, was one of the astronomers who lobbied Congress to fund Hubble. "She canceled some missions (and) did what she thought was right, and I greatly admired her for that."

Hubble launched in April 1990, well after Roman left NASA. After some adjustments, Hubble produced astounding images. The most famous is the first deep field study by astronomer Robert Williams from theSpace Telescope Science Institute. The landmark image, which includes 342 separate exposurestakenover 10 days in 1995, shows in detail the vast diversity of the universe, including thousands of galaxies.

"The Hubble deep field image is probably one of the most important pictures ever taken," said Weiler. "Thousands of astronomers to date owe their careers to the Hubble telescope data and they owe that debt of gratitude to Nancy Roman."

In 1980, Roman retired from NASA to care for her elderly mother. But her retirement was short-lived. She studied programming, then took a consulting job to develop astronomical catalogs.

She went back to work at NASA in 1995. And she became head of its astronomical data center at Goddard Space Flight Center.In 1997, she retired from NASA again, then taught science to junior high and high school students, as well as K-12 science teachers.

After that, she recorded astronomical textbooks for the blind and dyslexic. And she lectured at many schools. "I like to talk to children about the advantages of going into science and particularly to tell the girls, by showing them my life, that they can be scientists and succeed."

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How NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Blasted Past Men Standing In Her Way - Investor's Business Daily