Rose Moorman

BTW Class of 1963 Our Hidden Figure

As a child, Ms. Moorman’s love of service to others was cultivated by her parents and teachers and has continued to grow throughout her life. In high school, she served on the Student Council, the Student Athletic Association and was president of the Spanish Club, French Club, science clubs and social clubs. Ms. Moorman was nominated for the Miami Herald Silver Knight Award in Citizenship, and was one of three Dade County high school students to be presented the 1963 National Conference of Christians and Jews Florida Regional Youth Award for outstanding community service. This award was presented by Elliot Roosevelt, son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

During her collegiate years, in the 1960’s, she joined U.S. Congressman John Lewis in protests and marches for racial equality in downtown Nashville, TN. She served as counselor for a summer youth program at Fisk University which was aimed at helping underserved youth to transition from high school to college and was cited in Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

In 1967, she was the first black and the second female to be initiated into the General Electric STEP (Space Technological Engineering Program). In 1968, she was on the cover of and was the featured article in Talent Magazine (publication focused on “ up and corning” technologists). At the University of Pennsylvania, she had the honor of being taught by a computer technology pioneering icon, U. S. Naval Commander Grace Hopper. The class was in awe when she showed us representation of a “ nanosecond” , which is now considered to be the pace of a snail. To help perpetuate and inspire passion for technology, Ms. Moorman taught computer sciences and programming as an associate professor at the University of the District of Columbia in the 1970’s. In the 2000’s, she helped Miami-Dade County inner -city kids to go beyond “ gaming,” to an understanding of how computers really worked in a series of lectures throughout the county.

Ms. Moorman served as president of the South Florida Chapter of Black Data Processing Associates, and president of Lorah Park Elementary and Alphonso Brownsville Junior High PTSA’s. She has served on the Computer Education Advisory Pan for Dade County School Board, the Board of Directors for the Overtown Community Health Clinic and has held offices and memberships in the following: Miami Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., MAST Academy High PTSA, Family Christian Association, New Miami Group, American Red Cross, University of Virginia Parents, the National

Council of Negro Women, Miami Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Miami Fisk Club, BTW Alumni Association, BTW Class of 1963, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, Dade Heritage Trust, Democratic National Committee, NAACP, National Wildlife Federation; charter member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, and was a volunteer/trainer for Organizing for America to re-elect President Barack Obama.