Wendy Okolo, is one of the first Women of African roots to bag a doctorate — not honorary — degree in aerospace engineering also known as rocket science, anywhere on the planet. Okolo received her B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2010 and 2015 respectively.
Wendy Okolo has absolutely reached for the stars! The amazing graduate not only earned a doctorate in Aerospace Engineering, but also showed her commitment to her school by serving as president of the Society of Women Engineers during her undergraduate years at University of Texas at Arlington. Her student group affiliations foreshadowed her future accomplishments since she is now soaring with NASA and holds the honor of being one of the first ever Black woman to receive a PhD in aerospace engineering at only age 26. Wendy’s ambition truly has no limits–talk about impressive!
Wendy Okolo certainly wasn’t short on ambition during her undergraduate years, as she served as president of both the African Student Society and the Society of Women Engineers at the University of Texas at Arlington. But that was only the beginning: she boldly took on a summer research role from 2010 to 2012 with the Control Design & Analysis Branch at Air Force Research Laboratory’s Wright Patterson Air Force Base. There, she was part of a crack team – the same one responsible for flying across the US in less than an hour and a half! It’s not surprising then that Okolo is now working as an ambitious aerospace research engineer at NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, known to be one of America’s top-rated research centers.
Wendy Okolo is an ambitious engineer, and it’s no wonder she was recognized as the most promising one in the US government! Her extensive research has been backed by influential organizations such as the Department of Defense, Zonta International, and the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. Now she serves as a special emphasis programs manager in the Intelligent Systems Division for NASA’s Ames Research Center – clearly there’s no stopping this unstoppable woman! It’s safe to say that Okolo isn’t one to shy away from ambitious endeavors, and her ambitiousness has never failed to pay off.
