Barbara Paulson
American former human computer at NASA
Barbara Jean Paulson (née Lewis; April 11, 1928 – February 26, 2023) was an American human computer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and one of the first female scientists employed there. Paulson began working as a mathematician at JPL in 1948, where she calculated rocket trajectories by hand. She is among the women who made early progress at JPL.
Early life
Barbara Jean Lewis was born in Columbus, Ohio on April 11, 1928. She was raised with three siblings
(two older sisters and one younger brother), and when she was 12 years old her father died. Beginning in 9th grade, Paulson took four years of Latin and math while her sisters took short hand as Paulson did not want to be a secretary. After attending Ohio State University for one year, Paulson's sister, who was already working in Pasadena at the time, convinced her mother to move to Pasadena as well. In 1947 the family moved to Pasadena, California, where her career at JPL would begin.
In 1959, Barbara married Harry Murray Paulson in Pasadena, where they lived until 1962 before moving to Monrovia. In 1975, they finally settled in Glendora.
Career
Paulson joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1948 as a computer, calculating rocket paths and working on the MGM-5 Corporal, the first guided missile designed by the United States to carry a nuclear warhead.
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