Title
Resolution in Recognition of Margot Lee Shetterly
Purpose
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND:
To recognize Marot Lee Shetterly as a Distinguished Citizen Award recipient in acknowledgement of her book Hidden Figures.
Discussion:
To recognize Marot Lee Shetterly as a Distinguished Citizen Award recipient in acknowledgement of her book Hidden Figures.
Impact:
Recommendation:
Rec
To approve the resolution recognizing Margot Lee Shetterly as a Distinguished Citizen in recognition of her book Hidden Figures.
Body
WHEREAS, Margot Lee Shetterly graduated from Phoebus High School in Hampton, Virginia;
WHEREAS, she graduated from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce;
WHEREAS, she worked in investment banking on the Foreign Exchange trading desk at J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch’s Fixed Income Capital Markets desk;
WHEREAS, she also worked in the media industry at a variety of startup ventures;
WHEREAS, for many years, Margot and husband, Aran Shetterly, lived in Mexico where they founded the English-language magazine, Inside Mexico, and worked as content marketing and editorial consultants to the Mexican tourism industry;
WHEREAS, in 2010, Shetterly began researching and writing her first book, Hidden Figures, a non-fiction book which tells the story of the black women who played significant roles in Americans getting into orbit and to the moon. These women worked as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) first human computers, crunching numbers long before the computer was invented;
WHEREAS, in 2013, Shetterly founded the Human Computer Project, an organization whose mission is to archive the work of all of the women who worked as computers and mathematicians in the early days of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and NASA;
WHEREAS, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, was a top book of 2016 for both TIME and Publisher’s Weekly, a USA Today bestseller, and a #1 New York Times bestseller;
WHEREAS, in 2016, the Fox 2000 feature film, “Hidden Figures”, was released. The film stared Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe and Kevin Costner;
WHEREAS, Shetterly is the co-writer of a Hidden Figures children’s book which was released in January 2018; and
WHEREAS, Shetterly is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow, the recipient of a Virginia Foundation for the Humanities grant for her research on women in computing, and the 2018 recipient of the Space Foundation's Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award, presented annually to an organization or individual who has made significant contributions to the public awareness and understanding of space programs and technology.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, that Margot Lee Shetterly be, and hereby is, awarded the Hampton Distinguished Citizen Award for the contributions she has made to science, the City of Hampton, and society.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be spread upon the minutes of the June 13, 2018, City Council meeting of the City of Hampton, Virginia, and that an appropriate copy be signed by the Mayor, attested by the Clerk, and presented to Margot Lee Shetterly.