Judith Love Cohen
Cohen and the Atlas / Able satellite on which she worked in 1959
Born	(1933-08-16)August 16, 1933 Brooklyn,New York, U.S.
Died	July 25, 2016(2016-07-25) (aged 82) Culver City, California, U.S.
Burial place	Eden Memorial Park Cemetery
Other names	Judith Love Siegel Judith Love Black Judith Love Katz
Occupation(s)	Aerospace engineer Author Ballerina
Years active	1952–2016
Spouses	Bernard Siegel Tom Black David A. Katz
Children	4, includingNeil Siegel andJack Black

Judith Love Cohen (August 16, 1933 – July 25, 2016)^[1] was an Americanaerospace engineer. She was an electrical engineer on theMinuteman missile, the science ground station for theHubble Space Telescope, theTracking and Data Relay Satellite, and theApollo Space Program.^[2] In particular, her work on theAbort-Guidance System is credited with helping saveApollo 13. After her retirement from engineering, she founded a children's multimedia publishing company,^[3] eventually publishing more than 20 titles before her death in 2016. She was the mother of computer scientist and engineerNeil Siegel and actor-musicianJack Black.

Cohen was born into a Jewish family inBrooklyn, New York, the daughter of Sarah Cohen (née Roisman) and Morris Bernard Cohen.^[4] By fifth grade, her classmates were paying her to do their math homework. She was often the only girl in her math classes, and decided she wanted to become a math teacher.^[5] By age 19, she was studying engineering in college, and dancing ballet in theMetropolitan Opera Ballet company in New York.^[3]

She received a scholarship toBrooklyn College to major in math, but realized she preferred engineering. After two years at Brooklyn College, Cohen married and moved to California, working as a junior engineer forNorth American Aviation, attending theUniversity of Southern California (USC) at night; she said that she went through both her BS and MS programs at USC without ever meeting another female engineering student.^[3] She received both her bachelor's and master's degrees fromUSC Viterbi School of Engineering, in 1957 and 1962 respectively,^[6] and continued her association with the university, serving as an Astronautical Engineering Advisory board member.^[3]

In 1982, she became a graduate of theUCLA Engineering Executive Program.^[3]

Cohen's engineering career began in 1952, when she worked as a junior engineer atNorth American Aviation.^[3] After graduation from USC Viterbi School of Engineering in 1957, she went on to work atSpace Technology Laboratories. Space Technology Laboratories eventually becameTRW (acquired byNorthrop Grumman in 2002). She stayed with the company until her retirement in 1990. Her engineering work included work on the guidance computer for theMinuteman missile and theAbort-Guidance System (AGS) in the ApolloLunar Module. The AGS played an important role in the safe return ofApollo 13 after an oxygen tank explosion left the Service Module crippled and forced the astronauts to use theLunar Module as a "lifeboat." Supplies of electrical power and water on the LM were limited and the Primary Guidance and Navigation System used too much water for cooling. As a result, after a major LM descent engine burn two hours past its closest approach to the Moon to shorten the trip home, the AGS was used for most of the return, including two mid-course corrections.^{[7]pp. III-17,32,35,40} According to her son Neil:^[3]

My mother usually considered her work on the Apollo program to be the highlight of her career. When disaster struck theApollo 13 mission, it was the Abort-Guidance System that brought the astronauts home safely. Judy was there when the Apollo 13 astronauts paid a 'thank you' to the TRW facility in Redondo Beach.

In 1990, after retiring from practice as an engineer, she began a publishing company called Cascade Pass with her third husband, David Katz.^[3] They published two series of books:

• The "You Can be a Woman … " series was created to encourage very young girls to pursue careers in science and engineering
• The "Green" series focuses on promoting positive environmental practices, aimed at young children.

Cascade Pass has sold more than 100,000 of their children's books in these two series.^[3]

Cascade Pass also published a book calledThe Women of Apollo (written by Robyn Friend, Cohen's daughter-in-law), which features short biographies of four women who helped put the first man on the moon, Cohen among them.^[3][2][6]

• May 2014,IEEE-USA Distinguished Literary Contributions Award – for her work withSTEM for children^[8]

In the early 1950s, Cohen married fellow engineer Bernard Siegel, whom she met while a freshman in engineering school atBrooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York. They had three children: engineer/scientistNeil Siegel, Howard Siegel, and Rachel Siegel. The couple divorced in the mid-1960s.^[3]

Cohen married Thomas "Tom" William Black, whoconverted to Judaism for her. In 1969, they had a son, actor and musicianJack Black. In a memorial tribute, her son Neil notes that she was troubleshooting problems with schematics on the day she went into labor, called her boss to let him know she had fixed the problem and then delivered Jack.^[9] The couple divorced in 1979.^[3]

In 1981, Cohen married David A. Katz.^[3] They remained married until her death in 2016.

In 1991, Cohen's son Howard died ofAIDS at the age of 36.^[10]

Cohen died of cancer in 2016.^[3]

• A Clean series
  • (2007). A Clean Sky: The Global Warming Story. (with Robyn Friend)ISBN 978-1-880599-81-5^[11]
    • (2007). Un Cielo Limpio: La Historia del Calentamiento Global (in Spanish) (with Robyn Friend)ISBN 978-1-880599-83-9
  • (2008). A Clean City: The Green Construction Story. (with Robyn Friend)ISBN 1-880599-84-8
  • (2009). A Clean Planet: The Solar Power Story. (with Robyn Friend)ISBN 978-1-880599-86-0
  • (2011). A Clean Earth: The Geothermal Story. (with Robyn Friend)ISBN 978-1-880599-98-3
  • (2012). A Cleaner Port. A Brighter Future. The Greening of the Port of Los Angeles. (with Robyn Friend, Lee Rathbone, and David Katz)ISBN 978-1-935999-00-3
  • (2015). Future Engineering: The Clean Water Challenge. (with Robyn Friend)ISBN 978-1-935999-08-9
  • (2015). Los Angeles' Clean Energy Future. (with Robyn Friend and David Katz)ISBN 978-1-935999-09-6
  • (2015). Los Angeles' Water Future. (with Robyn Friend and David Katz)ISBN 978-1-935999-11-9
• You Can Be series
  • 2005: You Can Be a Woman Makeup Artist or Costume Designer (with Robyn Friend)ISBN 978-1-880599-76-1
  • 2004: You Can Be a Woman Animator (with Vicky Jenson)ISBN 978-1-880599-70-9
  • 1992: You Can Be a Woman ArchitectISBN 978-1-880599-04-4
  • 1995: You Can Be a Woman AstronomerISBN 978-1-880599-17-4
  • 1999: You Can Be a Woman Basketball PlayerISBN 978-1-880599-40-2
  • 1999: You Can Be a Woman BotanistISBN 978-1-880599-31-0
  • 1996: You Can Be a Woman CardiologistISBN 978-1-880599-18-1
  • 2005: You Can Be a Woman ChemistISBN 978-1-880599-72-3
  • 1999: You Can Be a Woman EgyptologistISBN 978-1-880599-45-7
  • 1995: You Can Be a Woman EngineerISBN 978-1-880599-19-8ASIN B00LLQL2TK
  • 2002: You Can Be a Woman EntomologistISBN 978-1-880599-60-0
  • 2005: You Can Be a Woman Video Game ProducerISBN 978-1-880599-73-0
  • 2003: You Can Be a Woman Movie Maker (with Mary McLaglen, Maureen Gosling and Paula Weinstein)ISBN 1-880599-63-5
  • 2001: You Can Be a Woman Marine BiologistISBN 978-1-880599-53-2
  • 2002: You Can Be a Woman MeteorologistISBN 978-1-880599-58-7
  • 1994: You Can Be a Woman Oceanographer (with Sharon E. Franks, Sharon Roth Franks)ISBN 978-1-880599-66-2
  • 1993: You Can Be a Woman PaleontologistISBN 978-1-880599-43-3
  • 2000: You Can Be a Woman Soccer Player^[12] (with Tisha Lea Venturini)ISBN 978-1-880599-49-5
  • 2000: You Can Be a Woman Softball PlayerISBN 978-1-880599-47-1
  • 1992: You Can Be a Woman ZoologistISBN 978-1-880599-56-3
• Tu Puedes Ser series
  • Tu Puedes Ser Una Ingeniera
  • Tu Puedes Ser Una Arquitecta
  • Tu Puedes Ser Biologa Marina
  • Tu Puedes Ser Una Zoologa
  • Tu Puedes Ser Una Oceanografa
• Other
  • Friend, Robyn C.; Cohen, Judith Love; Katz, David A. (illustrations); Rathbone, Lee (editing) (2012).Electricity and You: Be Smart, Be Safe. Marina del Rey, CA: Cascade Pass.ISBN 978-1-935999-02-7.OCLC 803961217.^[13]

• Judith Love Cohen atIMDb
• David A. Katz and Judith Love Cohen Papers atUniversity of Southern Mississippi
• Judith Love Cohen atFind a Grave

• 1933 births
• 2016 deaths
• American electrical engineers
• University of Southern California alumni
• Deaths from cancer in California
• Jewish American scientists
• Jewish engineers
• Brooklyn College alumni
• Jewish women scientists
• American aerospace engineers
• Jewish women non-fiction writers
• 20th-century American women engineers
• 20th-century American engineers
• American women children's writers
• American children's writers
• American non-fiction children's writers
• American women non-fiction writers
• Scientists from Brooklyn
• Writers from Brooklyn
• American non-fiction environmental writers
• American science writers
• American women science writers
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century American women
• Women aerospace engineers
• Burials at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2022
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