Women Who Taught the World: Honouring the Hidden Educators of History
Every March, Women’s History Month gives us a powerful opportunity—not only to celebrate the groundbreaking achievements of women but to reflect on how often their stories have been left out of the spotlight.
At Nurture Network, we’re passionate about rewriting that narrative.
So many of the women who shaped the world through education, science, and mentorship still don’t get the credit they deserve. These women didn’t just make discoveries—they shared their knowledge to uplift others, challenging systems that told them they didn’t belong.
This year, we’re spotlighting four extraordinary academics whose brilliance, persistence, and knowledge-sharing changed everything for the following generations. Their legacies are a reminder that education is power—and sharing it is revolutionary.
🚀 Mary Jackson (1921–2005)
NASA’s first Black female engineer & lifelong mentor to others
Mary Jackson’s journey was anything but linear, and her commitment to lifting others as she climbed is what makes her legacy genuinely remarkable.
Mary Jackson graduated from Hampton Institute in 1942 with a dual degree in Mathematics and Physical Science, and in 1951, she joined the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory as a computer in the segregated West Area Computing section, reporting to Dorothy Vaughan.
Years later, she began working with engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki on wind tunnel experiments. At his encouragement, she took night classes—held in a then-segregated school—and in 1958, Mary Jackson broke major barriers in a heavily segregated, male-dominated field by becoming NASA’s first Black female engineer.
But Jackson never stopped pushing forward—or reaching back to bring others with her. In the 1970s, she helped students at Hampton’s King Street Community Center build and test their own wind tunnel to spark their interest in science.
Despite her accomplishments, Jackson encountered the same glass ceiling that so many women face in male-dominated fields. When promotions slowed, she chose to take a step back from engineering in 1979—not out of defeat, but to make space for change. She accepted a demotion to become Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager, dedicating the rest of her career to creating opportunities for women in STEM.
Mary Jackson working 2 – Restoration, by Adam Cuerden, PDM 1.0
Mary Jackson’s impact wasn’t just in the skies but also in classrooms, community centres, and NASA hiring policies. Her advocacy helped shape the futures of countless women who followed in her footsteps.
Her story is portrayed in the film Hidden Figures (a Nurture Network must-watch).
“We have to do something like this to get them [the youth] interested in science…Sometimes they are not aware of the number of Black scientists, and don’t even know of the career opportunities until it is too late.”
Mary Jackson cited in a 1970s local newspaper
🧪 Tu Youyou (1930– )
Pioneered the world’s most effective antimalarial treatment to date.
Tu Youyou’s work on curing malaria has saved millions of lives—but few outside of scientific circles know her name.
In the midst of a national health crisis, Tu led a covert Chinese research project in the 1970s to find a cure for malaria—a disease that still affects millions. Tu turned to centuries-old Chinese medical texts from the Zhou, Qing, and Han Dynasties, determined to find a solution hidden in traditional remedies.
It was there she found her breakthrough. By carefully refining an extraction method from sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), Tu isolated a compound—now known as artemisinin—that would go on to become the gold standard in malaria treatment.
With unmatched personal commitment, she became the first human to test the compound, followed by two of her colleagues. After safely trialling it on themselves, they successfully administered it to 21 malaria patients – and they all recovered.
Today, artemisinin-based therapies are the World Health Organization’s recommended frontline treatment for malaria. In 2011, Tu Youyou was awarded the prestigious Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for her work, which the Lasker Foundation called “arguably the most important pharmaceutical intervention in the last half-century.” Four years later, she became the first scientist from mainland China to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine—all without a formal medical degree or doctorate.
Tu Youyou in 1950s, by Xinhua News agency, PDM 1.0
Tu Youyou’s story is a powerful reminder that brilliance doesn’t have to follow a conventional path. Without formal titles or global recognition at the time, she trusted her instincts, honoured knowledge that had been passed down to her, and changed the course of medical history.
“Every scientist dreams of doing something that can help the world.”
Tu Youyou
🌊 Marie Tharp (1920–2006)
Mapped the ocean floor & shifted the course of geology.
Before satellites and advanced underwater sensors, there was Marie Tharp—a geologist and oceanographic cartographer whose ocean floor maps proved the theory of continental drift.
After earning her mathematics degree in Oklahoma in 1948, Marie Tharp joined the Lamont Geological Laboratory at Columbia University, where she began what would become a groundbreaking collaboration with geologist Bruce Heezen. At the time, the U.S. Navy was investing heavily in mapping the ocean floor, viewing it as crucial for submarine navigation and military strategy.
Although Tharp wasn’t permitted on research vessels because she was a woman, she pushed through with her research from the lab. She meticulously interpreted seismic and topographic data gathered at sea, turning thousands of echo-sound readings into detailed, hand-drawn maps of the seafloor.
It was through this careful analysis that she noticed a curious pattern—a continuous line of ridges and valleys running down the centre of the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier studies, dating back to the HMS Challenger expedition in the 1870s and sonar scans in the 1920s, had hinted at an underwater mountain range. But Tharp was the first to suggest that this ridge was actually a series of rift valleys—evidence that the seafloor was pulling apart and creating new crust, supporting the once-dismissed theory of continental drift.
Bruce and Marie with the map, by Marie Tharp Maps, CC BY 2.0
Her findings were initially laughed off as “girl talk,” even by Heezen, who dismissed her interpretation as too closely aligned with the controversial ideas of Alfred Wegener. But Tharp’s maps would go on to reshape geology forever, offering undeniable proof that Earth’s surface was far more dynamic than previously believed.
Marie Tharp’s focus and refusal to let dismissal stop her is a lesson in precision and purpose. Her maps now appear in museums and textbooks, but her name deserves to be as widely known as the theories she proved.
“I had a blank canvas to fill with extraordinary possibilities, a fascinating jigsaw puzzle to piece together. It was a once-in-a-lifetime—a once-in-the-history-of-the-world—opportunity for anyone, but especially for a woman in the 1940s.”
Marie Tharp
📊 Emmy Noether (1882–1935)
Built the mathematical backbone of modern physics.
You’ve likely heard of Albert Einstein, maybe even David Hilbert or Felix Klein. But what about their peer Amalie Emmy Noether—the mathematical mind who built upon Einstein’s theory of general relativity and laid the groundwork for modern physics?
While her male contemporaries trained in elite institutions, Noether had to start by earning a certificate to teach languages, the acceptable route for upper-middle-class girls at the time. But her passion lay elsewhere.
Determined to study mathematics, she sat in on university lectures as an unregistered student, one of only a handful of women in a sea of men. When the University of Erlangen finally opened its doors to women in 1904, she formally enrolled and earned her PhD by 1907.
Even with a doctorate, she wasn’t allowed to hold a paid academic position. For years, she worked without title or salary at the Mathematical Institute in Erlangen, developing complex theories in abstract algebra and collaborating with renowned mathematicians like Felix Klein and David Hilbert. Her brilliance was undeniable—yet still, institutional recognition lagged behind.
In 1915, she joined the team at the University of Göttingen, where Einstein’s general theory of relativity was gaining momentum. While working alongside Klein and Hilbert, Emmy made a discovery that would become one of the most fundamental contributions to physics: what we now call Noether’s Theorem.
EmmyNoether MFO3096,by Materialscientist, PDM 1.0
Her theorem took Einstein’s insights a step further. It formalised a profound idea—that for every symmetry in nature, there is a corresponding conservation law. This elegant connection between mathematics and physics changed the way we understand the universe. It became a cornerstone for fields ranging from particle physics to quantum mechanics.
Yet despite this monumental contribution, Emmy Noether’s name remains relatively unknown. Her legacy lives in the laws that govern our universe. Her name should be as familiar as those of the men she collaborated with and inspired, but instead, her genius still lingers in the background of history.
“My [algebraic] methods are really methods of working and thinking; this is why they have crept in everywhere anonymously.”
Emmy Noether
If you’re anything like us, you’re probably wondering—how have we never heard about these academics before?
The impact these women had on science, education, and the world at large feels far too significant to be hidden in the margins of history. From mapping the ocean floor to redefining physics, curing disease, and breaking barriers at NASA—they’ve shaped the world we live in. And yet, for many of us, this might be the first time we’re learning their names.
That’s exactly why we’re sharing this series.
We want to make sure their stories—and the stories of countless women like them—aren’t forgotten. So, if these trailblazers moved you, share this article. Talk about it. Post it. Remind the world that women have been making history from the very beginning—often in the face of massive obstacles.
Let’s change what gets remembered.
You Can Uplift and Educate Too
At Nurture Network, we believe your story matters just as much. Whether you’re mentoring a peer, inspiring a student, or just learning something new yourself—you’re part of the ripple effect these women started.
💬 Share your journey: Fill out our Shortcut Spotlight form and help us highlight the brilliance in our own community along with the other Nurture Network members.
🎟️ Look out for NNL25 tickets on our socials: Our next live event will be in the autumn of 2025—don’t miss your chance to connect with people who will lift you up and propel you forward.
Let’s keep educating, celebrating, and rising—together.
