Grace Hopper

Introduction

Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (1906–1992) was a computer scientist, mathematician, and one of the few women at the time to reach the rank of Rear Admiral in the Navy. She is celebrated even today for her unique and significant contributions to the field of computer science.

Interesting Facts

She appeared on TV shows like David Letterman, charming audiences with her wit and knowledge.
Her nickname, "Grandma COBOL" reflects her lasting influence in programming.
In honor of her contributions, the U.S. Navy named a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Hopper, after her.
Grace Brewster Murray was born into a family that valued education. Her father, Walter Fletcher Murray, was an insurance broker, and her mother, Mary Campbell Van Horne, was passionate about mathematics, and had influenced Grace's interest in the math at an early age.
Advocated for women in STEM and played a major role in advancing their representation in technology.
Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumously, 2016)

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Gallery

“Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, "We've always done it this way." I try to fight that. That's why I have a clock on my wall that runs counter-clockwise.” -Grace Hopper. Image courtesy of Wikipedia and quote from Wikiquote.

“We're flooding people with information. We need to feed it through a processor. A human must turn information into intelligence or knowledge. We've tended to forget that no computer will ever ask a new question.” -Grace Hopper Image courtesy of WAMU and quote from Wikiquote.

“It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” -Grace Hopper-Goode Memorial Award (1970). Image courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library and quote from Wikiquote.

“The most important thing I've accomplished, other than building the compiler, is training young people. They come to me, you know, and say, 'Do you think we can do this?' I say, 'Try it.' And I back 'em up.” -Grace Hopper Image courtesy of Hagley.org and quote from Wikipedia.

“I had a running compiler and nobody would touch it. ... they carefully told me, computers could only do arithmetic; they could not do programs.” -Grace Hopper Image courtesy of Wikipedia and qoute from Wikiquote.

“I've received many honors and I'm grateful for them; but I've already received the highest award I'll ever receive, and that has been the privilege and honor of serving very proudly in the United States Navy.” -Grace Hopper Image courtesy of the Smithsonian and quote from Wikiquote.

"You manage things; you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership." -Grace Hopper Wikipedia quote from Wikiquote.

Historical Timeline

1906

Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was born on December 9, 1906, in New York City.

1914-1918

World War 1

1916

The National Service School was organized by the Women’s Naval Service to train women for duties in time of war and national disasters.

1920

19th ammendment certified, granting women the right to vote in the U.S.

1928

BA in Mathematics and Physics from Vassar College.

1930

Master’s in Mathematics from Yale University.

1931-1943

Grace Hopper taught mathematics at Vassar College for over a decade before her military service.

1934

Hopper earned her Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale University, becoming one of the first women to do so at this time.

1941

Attack on Pearl Harbor.

1943

Hopper worked on the Mark I project with Harvard after she joined the Navy Reserves during World War II as a lieutenant.

1944

Hopper worked on the Harvard Mark I (IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator), one of the first large-scale computers. She contributed to its programming and operations.

Wrote the first computer manual, "A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator.

D-Day: Allied forces land in Normandy, France.

1945

End of World War II.

The United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

1947

The Truman Doctrine is announced, outlining U.S. policy to contain communism.

1948

Women are allowed to serve in the armed forces that is a regular permanent status after President Truman signed the Women's Armed Service Integration Act.

1949

Hopper joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, where she worked on the UNIVAC I, one of the first commercially available computers.

1950

Korean war begins.

1952

Hopper invented the A-0 System, the first compiler, which translated high-level programming languages into machine code, laying the foundation for modern compilers, simplifying programming by converting written instructions into machine-readable code.

1954

The Civil Rights Movement begins.

1955

Hopper developed Flow-Matic, a programming language designed for business applications, which influenced the creation of COBOL.

1959

Grace Hopper contributed significantly to the development of COBOL, also known as, Common Buisiness-Oriented Language. COBOL use was widely accepted in buisness, finance, and administrative purposes making programming more accessible even to this day.

Vietnam War begins.

1962

Hopper popularized the term "debugging" when her team found an actual moth causing a malfunction in the Mark II computer at Harvard University.

1964

The Civil Rights Act abolishes segregation in the United States.

1965

Voting Rights Act of 1965 secured voting rights for adult citizens of all races and genders.

1966

Grace Hopper was promoted to commander in the U.S. Navy, reflecting her significant contributions to computing and her military service.

Grace Hopper initially retired but, was recalled to active duty in 1967.

1967-1977

Hopper served in the Navy as the director of the Programming Languages Group.

1973

Hopper initially retires from the Navy as a commander, but continued to work as a consultant for computer science.

The Vietnam War ends.

1983

Hopper is promoted to Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy, making her one of the few women to at this time to achieve something like this in the armed forces.

1986

Officially retired.

1988

End of Iran-Iraq War.

1989

Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.

End of cold war

The U.S. invasion of Panama begins.

1990

The Gulf War begins

1991

Grace Hopper passed away on January 1, 1991 at 85 years old. Her contributions continues to influence computer science and programming leaving behind an impressive legacy.

National Medal of Technology.

The Gulf War end.