Joan Czerniejewski Sherman is a scientist and Professor of Chemistry. She was considered a pathbreaker by becoming one of the first professors at

Florida Institute of Technology The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. Appr ...

(while it was Brevard Engineering College) and one of the first women hired by Radiation IncorporatedKjerulff, Georgiana
"Powder Puff Programmers: Women in the Space effort–boss-ladies to Computers..."
''

Pensacola News Journal The '' Pensacola News Journal'' is a daily morning newspaper serving Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida. It is Northwest Florida's most widely read daily. The ''News Journal'' is owned by Gannett, a national media holding company th ...

'', All Florida section, Pensacola, Florida, 74th year, number 43, October 25, 1964, pages 10-13. She became the first woman technical director at

Harris Corporation Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision equipment and both terrestrial and spaceb ...

. In 1994, the

Society of Women Engineers The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is an international not-for-profit educational and service organization. Founded in 1950 and headquartered in the United States, the Society of Women Engineers is a major advocate for women in engineering and ...

named her Space Coast Outstanding Woman Engineer. The Town of Indialantic, Florida designated July 21, 2021 as “Joan C. Sherman Day”.

Early life

Sherman was born in Illinois in 1932. She received bachelor of science in chemistry from Northwestern University in 1953.

Career

She was a research chemist on the Evanston Fluoridation Study and a chemical engineer in the refining Research Department of Universal Oil Company. In 1959, she began working for

RCA Service Company {{unreferenced, date=September 2018 RCA Service Company (RCAS) was headquartered at Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and was a division of RCA created to service appliances and equipment manufactured by RCA. RCAS was divided into three major groups: * RCA ...

in the photography lab of the

Missile Test Project {{Use dmy dates, date=May 2022 The Missile Test Project (MTP) was a U.S. Air Force program operated by RCA Service Company ( RCAS) from Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, under the direction of prime contractor Pan American Guided Missiles Research Di ...

. In 1963, she began working at Radiation Incorporated and became a senior engineer.Radiation, Incorporated
"Joan C. Sherman, Senior Engineer"
John H. Evans Library Digital Collections, Florida Institute of Technology. Retrieved 21 January 2022. While at Radiation Incorporated, she was a lead chemist at the Micro-Electronics laboratory, where she directed other technicians in development of

microelectronics Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-sc ...

used in the early days of the

Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Joan C. 1932 births Living people 21st-century American chemists Florida Institute of Technology alumni Florida Institute of Technology faculty Northwestern University alumni People from Brevard County, Florida Scientists from Florida