Marshall History

Over his career, Smith received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1972 for significant personal contributions to the theoretical development, practical implementation and operational support of the navigation systems for the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Apollo 16 mission, as well as several commendations and the astronauts’ Snoopy Award.

During her career, Dickerson rose through the ranks holding various positions of increasing authority including Deputy Director of Employee and Organizational Development, where she retired after thirty-nine years of service.

Oceola (Ocie) Hall graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and worked at NASA in June 1974 with an appointment as NASA’s Federal Women’s Program Coordinator.

In May 1966, civil rights leader and the director of the National Urban League, Whitney Young Jr., came to Huntsville and visited Marshall where center leadership discussed the expansion of new programs to advance equal employment at the center and contractors.

A native of Huntsville, Alabama, James C. (Jim) Rice, Jr. was the long-time director of the Equal Opportunity Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. 

Jeanette Scissum joined NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in 1964 after earning bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from Alabama A&M University. Scissum published a NASA report in 1967, “Survey of Solar Cycle Prediction Models,” which put forward techniques for improved forecasting of the sunspot cycle.

Throughout his career, Shurney received several awards including the Lunar Flight Award, the Apollo Achievement Award, and the Skylab Achievement Award. He also received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for effective and dedicated coordination and conduct of the MSFC KC-135 Reduced Gravity Program in 1986. 

In June 1975, Marshall management named Clyde Foster to the position of director of the Equal Opportunity Office where he directed and administered a comprehensive program to assure equal opportunity in the conduct of all operations undertaken by the Center and its contractors.

Charles Smoot was employed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center where he began laying the foundation of a cooperative program targeting qualified African American students from universities across the nation.

Jeanette Scissum joined Marshall Space Flight Center in 1964 after earning bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from Alabama A&M University. Scissum later worked at NASA Headquarters as a computer systems analyst responsible for analyzing and directing NASA management information and technical support systems.

In 1952, Billie Robertson accepted a position with the Army and the Wernher von Braun rocket team and worked with guidance and control computer software. Over her career, she developed the manual for computer models related to launches during the Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) programs.

During her career, Dickerson rose through the ranks holding various positions of increasing authority including Deputy Director of Employee and Organizational Development, where she retired after thirty-nine years of service.

The first female welding engineer to work in the Materials and Processes Laboratory at Marshall, Margaret Brennecke was called upon to make critical decisions on the selection of lightweight high-strength metals and welding techniques for the Saturn rocket.

In February 1961, Ethel Heinecke became a mathematician at Marshall in the Aero-Astrodynamics Laboratory, and went on to plan lunar trajectories for the Apollo program.

Hall came to NASA in June 1974 with an appointment as NASA’s Federal Women’s Program Coordinator, after serving as the Associate Director for Interagency Training, Equal Employment Opportunity Training Institute and Bureau of Training.

Falkowski started work at Marshall in March 1962, accepting a position as a historian, and working primarily as curator at the Marshall Space Orientation Center.