Margot Lee Shetterly was born on June 30, 1969 in Hampton, VA. She is an
investment banker, entrepreneur, and author. She has written at least
two books and numerous articles.
Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win
the Space Race was published in 2016. The book was adapted into a movie of the
same name starring Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner in 2016. The film was
nominated for three Oscars. The book tells the story of four black female
mathematicians working in the 1940s (through 1960) who had jobs at NASA.
They conducted crucial calculations for the space race but had to deal with
continuing discrimination. The book made it to number one on the New York Times
best seller's list for nonfiction in 2017. It was awarded the Anisfield-Wolf Book
Award for Nonfiction that same year. Bookreporter.com indicates that: "restoring
the truth about individuals who were at once black, women and astounding
mathematicians, in a world that was constructed to stymie them at every step,
is no easy task. Shetterly does it with the depth and detail of a skilled historian
and the narrative aplomb of a masterful storyteller."