Wendy Okolo

Wendy A. Okolo is a Nigerian-American aerospace research engineer in the Intelligent Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Center. She is the first Black woman to obtain a Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering from University of Texas at Arlington. She was also the Special Emphasis Programs Manager for Women at Ames.

Education Okolo obtained her secondary education at Queen's College, an all-girls school in Lagos, Nigeria. She then received a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in 2010. Okolo later became the first Black woman to obtain a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from UTA in 2015 at age 26. During Okolo's undergraduate years, she served as president of the Society of Women Engineers at the university.

Career Okolo started her career as an undergraduate intern for Lockheed Martin, working on NASA's Orion spacecraft.

Okolo is an Associate Project Manager in the Intelligent Systems Division of NASA Ames. She is a research engineer in the Discovery and Systems Health Technology (DaSH).

Personal life Okolo says her sisters taught her the sciences with their day-to-day realities. She describes them as her heroes.

Awards Amelia Earhart Fellowship (2012) DoD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship (2012) Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) for The Most Promising Engineer in the United States government.