Dr. Valerie Thomas

Dr. Valerie Thomas

by | Jun 10, 2026 | BHOF, Science, STEM, Technology

Dr. Valerie Thomas is a physicist, data scientist, inventor, and educational leader. She demonstrated an interest in science and electronics from a young age. Although her father recommended that she should just stick to "girly things", she did not let this discourage her. In high school she learned more about physics and began to answer the question of 'what makes things tick?'. After completing high school, she attended Morgan State College, where she earned a physics degree. She then took a job at NASA helping to lay the foundation for image processing for NASA's Landsat program.

The Landsat program is NASA's longest-running mission dedicated to taking high-quality images of the Earth, to study the impacts of land usage and other human/nature-caused changes on land. She also invented the Illusion Transmitter, a setup of mirrors and cameras that capture an image and transmit it to a different location.

Marie VanBrittan

Marie VanBrittan

by | Jun 10, 2026 | Americas, BHOF, Engineering, Science, STEM, Technology

The world recognizes Marie as a leading figure who broke down barriers for underrepresented groups in STEM fields and innovation through her patent achievements and recognition. Educational programs and STEM initiatives use Brown's achievements to motivate girls and minority students toward technology and engineering career paths. She created the security system because her Queens neighborhood required protection from crime, since police took too long to respond. The innovation solved actual community requirements through the combination of different viewpoints, which produced better technological outcomes. 

Dorothy Vaughan

Dorothy Vaughan

by | Jun 10, 2026 | BHOF, Engineering, Math, Navigation, Science, STEM

Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician, human computer, computer programmer and schoolteacher who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. In 1949, she became acting supervisor of the West Area Computers, the first African-American woman to receive a promotion and supervise a group of staff at the center.

She later was promoted officially to the position of supervisor. During her 28-year career, Vaughan prepared for the introduction of computers in the early 1960s by teaching herself and her staff the Fortran programming language. She later headed the programming section of the Analysis and Computation Division (ACD) at Langley.

Vaughan is one of the women featured in Margot Lee Shetterly's history Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race (2016). It was adapted as a biographical film of the same name, also released in 2016.

In 2019, Vaughan was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously.

Glady West

Glady West

by | Jun 10, 2026 | BHOF, Science, STEM

Gladys Brown West was a mathematician. She was known for her contributions to mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development
of satellite geodesy models, which were later incorporated into the Global Positioning System (GPS).

AI by BODEN

AI by BODEN

by | Jun 9, 2026 | AI, Assets, Automotive, Blog, DIgital Banking, Money Matters, Neobank, Science, Steering, STEM, Technology, Thought Leadership

Anne Elizabeth Boden MBE (born January 1960) is a Welsh tech entrepreneur. She is the founder and former CEO of Starling Bank and the first woman to found a British bank. In 2018, she received an MBE for services to financial technology.

In July 2024, Boden stepped down from Starling's board, pivoting away from the company to focus on developing a new artificial intelligence business, AI By Boden.

Boden is the chair of the government's 'Women-led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce'.

 

Founder of Starling Bank

Starling

Philanthropist

Women Athletics Supporter