Thomas, Valerie

Valerie Thomas, in full Valerie LaVerne Thomas, (born February 8, 1943, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.), American scientist and inventor who, while working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), invented a way to transmit three-dimensional images, or holograms, that appear to be real. In addition, she helped to develop processing software to convert scientific data captured by satellites into information that scientists could use.

From an early age, Thomas was interested in electronics, mathematics, and physics despite the fact that girls were not encouraged to study those subjects. Moreover, because she was an African American in a racially segregated society, she had fewer educational opportunities than white students. Nevertheless, she was academically successful in high school and attended Morgan State College (now Morgan State University), a historically Black college. In 1964 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics.

Thomas subsequently began working as a data analyst at NASA. One of her early roles was analyzing data from the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory, a series of scientific satellites that the United States launched in the 1960s. In the 1970s Thomas helped to develop the image-processing system for NASA’s Landsat, a program involving uncrewed scientific satellites designed to collect information about Earth’s natural resources. The satellites carried various types of cameras, including those with infrared sensors. Thomas served as leader of the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment, a program that researched and developed ways to monitor wheat yields around the world by using Landsat images.

In 1976 Thomas became intrigued by 3D illusions after viewing a demonstration in which a light bulb seemed to stay lit even after being removed from a lamp. The illusion was created by means of a concave mirror reflecting a second light bulb. Thomas began experimenting, and she soon invented the illusion transmitter, for which she received a patent in 1980. The transmission system uses a video recorder to take a picture of a floating image in front of a concave mirror. The video image is sent to a second camera, which projects the image in front of a second concave mirror. This process creates the optical illusion of a 3D image. NASA subsequently used the technology in some of its satellite applications.

Thomas continued to work at NASA throughout the 1980s. In 1985 she earned a master’s degree in engineering administration from George Washington University. That same year she served as the computer facility manager for NASA’s National Space Science Data Center. In 1986 she became project manager of the agency’s Space Physics Analysis Network, which was created to help scientists share data and collaborate on space-related topics. Before retiring from NASA in 1995, Thomas held the position of associate chief of the Space Science Data Operations Office.

In 2004 Thomas received a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Delaware. Throughout her life she encouraged young people, especially African Americans and girls, to pursue a science education. She was active in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) organizations such as Women in Science and Engineering and Shades of Blue, which focuses on aviation and aerospace. Thomas also worked as a substitute teacher.