She was considered a pathbreaker by becoming one of the first professors at Florida Institute of Technology (while it was Brevard Engineering College) and one of the first women hired by Radiation Incorporated[1][2] She became the first woman technical director at Harris Corporation.
The Town of Indialantic, Florida designated July 21, 2021 as “Joan C. Sherman Day”.
She received a Master of Science in Oceanography from Florida Institute of Technology.
[5] In 1959, she began working for RCA Service Company in the photography lab of the Missile Test Project.
[6] While at Radiation Incorporated, she was a lead chemist at the Micro-Electronics laboratory, where she directed other technicians in development of microelectronics used in the early days of the Space Race.