April 3, 2015 in Modern Worthies Tu Youyou Conqueror of Malaria Humanity's greatest weapon against malaria came from an unlikely source: a secret military program, where a woman worked in obscurity for decades.
March 31, 2015 in Modern Worthies Aïcha Mekki Morocco's Speaker for the Downtrodden Moroccan journalist Aïcha Mekki tirelessly devoted herself to advocating for the downtrodden, but it was only after her suspicious death that her colleagues learned the truth - that she was one of the slum residents, herself.
March 24, 2015 in Modern Worthies Naziyah Mahmood Scientist, artist, poet, martial artist Scientist, artist, poet, martial artist: Naziyah Mahmood does it all.
March 12, 2015 in Modern Worthies Esther Okade 10-year-old math genius This 10-year-old math genius just enrolled in college, and plans on having her own bank by age 15.
March 9, 2015 in Modern Worthies Şafak Pavey Turkey's first disabled politician At 19, Şafak Pavey lost her left arm and leg making sure her friend with leukemia didn't fall off a train. Her ensuing disability barely slowed her down - now a Turkish parliament member at age 38, she fights for womens' rights, minority rights, and freedom of expression.
March 2, 2015 in Modern Worthies Annie Jean Easley Engineer, mathematician, and rocket scientist Annie Easley was given literacy tests. Annie Easley was told she didn't go to a good enough school. Annie Easley became a goddamn rocket scientist. Annie Easley did not listen to the haters.
January 29, 2015 in Modern Worthies Grace Hopper The Queen of Code Rear Admiral “Amazing” Grace Hopper was one of the first (and finest) computer programmers in history. She created the first compiler and spearheaded the creation of one of the first compiled computer languages. She was also a badass mofo.
January 22, 2015 in Modern Worthies Marie Wilcox The last fluent speaker of Wukchumni The last fluent speaker of her language, she's spent years preserving and teaching it to others.
January 9, 2015 in Modern Worthies Fatu Kekula The trash bag nurse When her family became infected with Ebola, the 22-year-old nursing student donned trash bags and began treating them.
January 5, 2015 in Modern Worthies Hedy Lamarr Actress, sexual icon, brilliant inventor Actress Hedy Lamarr's dual identities as sex icon and brilliant inventor so baffled the press that the latter went virtually unknown for decades.