Judith Love Cohen facts for kids
Judith Love Cohen (1933–2016) was an amazing American aerospace engineer and author. She helped design parts for important space missions. Some of her projects included the Minuteman missile, the ground station for the Hubble Space Telescope, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, and the famous Apollo Space Program. After she retired from engineering, Judith started a company that published children's books. She wrote more than 20 books before she passed away in 2016.
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Early Life and Dreams
Judith Love Cohen was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. Even when she was in fifth grade, her classmates would pay her to do their math homework! She was often the only girl in her math classes. Judith first wanted to be a math teacher. By the time she was 19, she was studying engineering in college. At the same time, she was also a ballet dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet company in New York.
Her Education Journey
Judith received a scholarship to Brooklyn College to study math. However, she soon realized she liked engineering even more. After two years, she got married and moved to California. She started working as a junior engineer for North American Aviation. At night, she attended the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Judith said she never met another female engineering student during her time at USC. She earned both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from USC. She continued to help the university by serving on the Astronautical Engineering Advisory board. In 1982, she also completed the Engineering Executive Program at UCLA.
Working as an Engineer
Judith Cohen's engineering career began in 1952. She started as a junior engineer at North American Aviation. After graduating from USC in 1957, she joined Space Technology Laboratories. This company later became TRW. Judith stayed with TRW until she retired in 1990. During her career, she worked on many important projects. These included the Minuteman missile, the ground station for the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Apollo Space Program.
Becoming an Author
After retiring from engineering in 1990, Judith started a publishing company called Cascade Pass. She co-founded it with her third husband, David Katz. They published two main series of books. The "You Can be a Woman … " series was created to inspire young girls. It encouraged them to consider careers in science and engineering. The "Green" series focused on helping children learn about protecting the environment. Cascade Pass has sold over 100,000 of these children's books.
The company also published a book called The Women of Apollo. This book shared short stories about four women who helped send the first man to the moon. Judith Love Cohen was one of these amazing women. In May 2014, Judith received an award for her work. It was called the IEEE-USA Distinguished Literary Contributions Award. This award recognized her efforts to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) for children.
Her Family Life
Judith Love Cohen was a mother of four children. Two of her children became well-known. Her son, Neil Siegel, is a respected engineer and scientist. Her other son is the famous actor, Jack Black. Judith had her first three children (Neil, Howard, and Rachel) with Bernard Siegel. She met Bernard in college and they married soon after.
Judith and Bernard divorced in the 1960s. Later, Judith married Thomas William Black. Their son, Jack, was born in 1969. Judith and Thomas divorced in the late 1970s. Her third husband was David Katz. They were still married when Judith passed away from cancer in 2016.
Books by Judith Love Cohen
Judith Love Cohen wrote many books, often with Robyn Friend. Here are some of her titles:
- A Cleaner Port. A Brighter Future. The Greening of the Port of Los Angeles
- A Clean Earth: The Geothermal Story
- A Clean Planet: The Solar Power Story
- A Clean City: The Green Construction Story
- A Clean Sky: The Global Warming Story
- Electricity and You
- Future Engineering: The Clean Water Challenge
- You Can Be a Woman Astronomer
- You Can Be a Woman Engineer
- You Can Be a Woman Architect
- You Can Be a Woman Marine Biologist
- You Can Be a Woman Zoologist
- A Clean Sea: The Rachel Carson Story
See also
In Spanish: Judith Love Cohen para niños
