Mary Jackson loved science and the people who surrounded her. She graduated from Hampton Institute in 1942 with a dual degree in Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Right after college she taught math at a black school in Calvert County, Maryland. Jackson stayed and taught for one year then moved to NASA, in 1951, where she would start changing people's lives. She started working as a computer, women Mathematicians, along with many other black women. They would accept and go through all kinds of assignments, which involved math. Two years later, Jackson was offered to work as an engineer for Kazimierz Czarnecki, working on a 4-ft by 4-ft tunnel. There were many hands on things, courses, and requirements, but she completed all the courses and in 1958, became NASA's first black female engineer. Especially at this time, things like this were very rare. For almost twenty years, Jackson stayed in the productive engineering position. During this time, she also authored and co-authored around twelve research reports, mostly about the layer of air around the airplane. Later, in 1979, Jackson changed careers, she went from an engineer to Langley's Federal Woman's Program Manager. While there, she helped hire the next generation of women working at NASA, in fields such as engineering, mathematics, or science. Six years later, in 1985, Jackson retired.