Dr. Marion L. Johnson

Dr. Marion Lee Johnson attended Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, where she majored in Mathematics. Upon graduation, she began her groundbreaking career as an Associate Engineer at The Boeing Company in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1967—just as Boeing was leading the construction of the historic Apollo Saturn V rocket.

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Assigned to the Launch Systems Branch at Boeing, Dr. Johnson worked on the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center project under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun and Dr. Arthur Rudolph. Her work involved preparing critical data inputs for simulation of vehicle piece impact trajectories—an essential component of the Apollo missions’ success.

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In March 1969, she received formal commendation for achieving a perfect record—20 successful missions in 20 attempts. Her technical excellence and leadership contributed directly to America’s first manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong declared, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

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Dr. Johnson’s name is permanently enshrined in the Apollo/Saturn V Roll of Honor, copies of which are housed in both the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

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Following her two-year mission with Boeing/NASA, Dr. Johnson joined Pfizer, Inc., where she built a distinguished 26-year career, retiring as a Project Leader. She later taught as a Computer Networking and Security Instructor at the Branford Hall Career Institute (formerly the Chubb Institute), earning the Award of Excellence for her outstanding service and mentorship.