08/28/2026
DID YOU KNOW? A girl who grew up working in the cotton fields of Hillsboro went on to make history at NASA 🚀
Before she became a physicist, inventor and NASA project manager, Dr. Shelia Nash-Stevenson was a girl growing up in rural Hillsboro in Lawrence County.
She has recalled working in cotton fields as a child, sometimes weeding cotton for about $5 a day. She knew early on that she wanted a different future, and education became her way forward.
Nash-Stevenson graduated from high school at just 16 years old and had earned her first college degree by 19.
At Alabama A&M University, she earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technology before moving into physics — and then began making history.
According to NASA, Nash-Stevenson became the first person to receive a master's degree in physics from Alabama A&M University. In 1994, she earned her doctorate, becoming the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in physics from Alabama A&M and the first Black woman in Alabama to earn a doctorate in physics.
She graduated magna cm laude three times, all while building a career and raising a family.
Her professional work included the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Defense Systems Command, Nichols Research Corporation and Hughes Aircraft Company. While at Hughes, she became a co-inventor on a patent for an optical fiber holder and contributed to scientific research involving lasers and optical technology.
Her career eventually took her to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, where she spent more than three decades working in America's space program. As a Science Projects Manager, she helped coordinate work involving NASA scientists and engineers, universities, private companies and international partners.
And when NASA told her story, her hometown was listed simply as:
Hillsboro, Alabama.
In 2016, when the movie Hidden Figures brought national attention to the Black women who helped shape America's early space program, NASA selected Nash-Stevenson as one of its own “Modern Figures.”
That distinction took the girl who once worked in a Lawrence County cotton field to New York City for the red-carpet premiere of Hidden Figures, where she helped encourage a new generation of students — especially girls and minority students — to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Her story later reached an even larger audience when she was featured on NBC's Today as part of a segment highlighting the “Ladies of NASA.”
Nash-Stevenson also broke barriers outside of science, becoming a charter member of the Madison City Board of Education and the first African American to serve on the board. She has also spent years mentoring students and was recognized among the nation's Top 50 Minority Women Scientists.
NASA has shared one story from her high school years that seems to sum up much of her journey: a teacher once questioned whether she belonged in the Honor Society, forcing Nash-Stevenson to produce paperwork proving that she did.
It was an early lesson that sometimes she would have to prove she belonged.
And she did.
From Hillsboro cotton fields, to making history at Alabama A&M, to becoming an inventor and NASA scientist — Dr. Shelia Nash-Stevenson's story is one remarkable Lawrence County connection. 🚀
