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Hidden Figures
2026

Campus Theatre Lewisburg, PA

with

JiaJia (JJ) Dong

Professor of Physics, Bucknell University

and

Adam Mair

Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, Bucknell University

Hidden Figures— Unseen and Underestimated: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Identity in STEM

The 2016 film Hidden Figures tells the remarkable story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, whose work at NASA in the 1950s and 1960s helped propel the US success in the Space Race. Join us after the screening as we explore the history and present of contributions from scientists from all backgrounds and uncover the many other hidden figures throughout the history of mathematics, computing, and space science whose contributions were overlooked or erased—until now.

Campus Theatre Lewisburg, PA

Film Synopsis

A team of African American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions.

As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, three brilliant African American women at NASA — Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) — became the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation's confidence, turned around the Space Race, and captivated the world.

About the Speaker

JiaJia (JJ) Dong is Professor of Physics at Bucknell University who studies the physics of living systems. She builds mathematical models and uses computer simulations to understand how complex phenomena, such as biofilm formation and protein synthesis, emerge from molecules following simple rules. JJ is also passionate about bringing real research questions into her undergraduate courses, so students can appreciate what it actually means to do science. JJ grew up in Shanghai, China, and came to the United States for graduate school, joining a long tradition of women and immigrants who have carried their curiosity across borders to contribute to science. She has also lived and worked in Germany, and the UK, and believes deeply that science moves forward only when we draw on the full breadth of human experience.

Adam Mair is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Bucknell University. Adam is most interested in functions (a mapping between inputs and outputs) and operators (a mapping between functions). His specific focus is on harmonic analysis, which takes up the question of how functions change quantitatively when operators are applied to them. As a biracial son whose parents grew up in the South, Adam is passionate about spreading knowledge on the hostilities faced by underrepresented communities and their incredible achievements in spite of this.