Grace Murray Hopper

Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) is well known for her contributions to software development and the creation of programming languages. Hopper graduated from Yale University in 1934 with a Ph.D. in mathematics and went on to teach at Vassar College where she studied with Richard Courant. During this time the U.S. had just entered World War II following the bombing of Pear Harbor, and Hopper decided to join the war effort as a U.S. Naval Reserve member. In 1944, Hopper was commissioned as a Lieutenant, and assigned to the Bureau of Ships Computation project at Harvard University. Hopper and other team members worked on MARK I, the first electromechanical computer in the U.S., where she wrote a 561-page user manual for MARK I. In 1946, she left active service, however, she continued to work on MARK II and MARK III computers until 1949 when she joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation. There, Hopper developed the idea of automatic programming, and in 1952 she created the first compiler named A-0 that translated mathematical code into machine-readable code. In 1953, Hopper came up with the idea of writing programs in words, and by 1956 she created FLOW-MATIC, the first programming language that used word commands. In 1959, Hopper participated in CODASYL, where COBOL was designed, which eventually became the most used computer language across the world. In 1967 Hopper was recalled to active service and was assigned to the Chief of Naval Operations staff as Director of the Navy Programming Languages group, eventually retiring in 1971.

Biography of Grace Murray Hopper. Office of the President. (2017, August 9). https://president.yale.edu/biography-grace-murray-hopper Norwood, E. B. A. R. (n.d.). Biography: Grace hopper. National Women’s History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/grace-hopper (sources used)