Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper (1906 - 1992) was an American mathematician, computer scientist, and United States Navy rear admiral who was among the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I and a leading pioneer of computer programming. ^[1] She developed one of the earliest compilers and championed the idea that programs could be written in words rather than numeric machine code, work that led directly to the business language COBOL.

Early life and education

Grace Brewster Murray was born on December 9, 1906, in New York City. ^[1] She showed an early aptitude for mathematics and science, and studied at the Wardlaw-Hartridge School before entering Vassar College, where she graduated in mathematics and physics. She went on to Yale University, earning a master's degree and, in 1934, a doctorate in mathematics. She taught mathematics at Vassar for much of the 1930s. ^[2]

Naval service and the Harvard Mark I

Following the United States' entry into the Second World War, Hopper joined the U.S. Navy Reserve in 1943. She was assigned to the Bureau of Ships Computation Project at Harvard University, where she became one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I, an early large-scale electromechanical computer. ^[1] Her wartime and later service earned her numerous military honors, including the World War II Victory Medal and, in her later career, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal.

Compilers and programming languages

In the early 1950s, Hopper argued that computers could be programmed using an English-based notation rather than raw machine instructions, an idea widely met with skepticism at the time. She developed one of the first compilers, a program that translates human-readable code into machine code, and her work strongly influenced the design of COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language), which became one of the most widely used programming languages in business and government. ^[1]

Later career and honors

Hopper remained active in the Navy for decades, retiring and being recalled to duty several times because of her expertise. She was eventually promoted to the rank of rear admiral before her final retirement in 1986, as one of the oldest serving officers in the U.S. Navy. She received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1991, among many other awards. ^[3]

Legacy

Grace Hopper died on January 1, 1992, in Arlington County, Virginia, and was buried with full military honors. Her influence on modern computing endures: the U.S. Navy named a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Hopper, in her honor, and the annual Grace Hopper Celebration has become one of the largest gatherings of women in computing. In 2016 she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. ^[1]