Jo Ann Charleston
Chief, Office of Educational Programs
NASA John H. Glenn Research Center

Jo Ann Charleston began working at Glenn Research Center immediately after receiving her bachelor's degree in chemistry, cum laude, from Southern University, in 1977. She earned honors for her work at GRC in chemical engineering, during her first 10 years, authoring or coauthoring 12 technical papers and receiving a U.S. patent for development of a chromium electrode catalyst. But her current work creating educational programs for underrepresented minorities in science and engineering has earned her even greater recognition. With a staff of 22 and an annual budget of $14 million, she manages a science and engineering internship/fellowship program for college students and high-school teachers and develops and implements the Summer High School Apprenticeship Program and the NASA Cooperative Education Program, among other initiatives. Ms. Charleston has a master of divinity degree with honors from Ashland Theological Seminary.