Grace Hopper was born on December 9, 1906 in New York City. In New Jersey, she attended Hartridge School for preparatory education. She was accepted into Vassar College at the age of 17, and graduated in 1928 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics. She later obtained her Master's at Yale in 1930, and later her Ph.D. in mathematics in 1934. She taught at Vassar as associate professor in 1941 and married NYU professor Vincent Foster Hopper. They later divorced in 1945, but she kept the name.
Her interest in computers was instigated primarily after her service in the Naval Reserve to assist her country in WWII. She was assigned to work at Harvard University on the Mark series. She received the Naval Ordnance Development Award for her programming success on the Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III. She also worked with the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation on the UNIVAC I. Hopper was the developer of the first compiler of programming language; COBOL. The term "debugging" actually came from her experiences. While working on Mark II at Harvard, she discovered an actual moth in a relay, creating problems in the operations. Debugging computers all started with a real live moth. Before retiring, she had reached high level ranks in the Naval Reserve and received many awards for her accomplishments in the computer world and the Naval Reserve. She died at age 85 in 1992, working as senior consultant at Digital Equipment Corporation.
She and her accomplishments are truly admired by all computer pioneers. She believed in the future and advancement of computer technology, always persevering to make things work, and to make them more user friendly. The foundation she laid for computer programming language is a legacy that will be carried out so long as humans live in a computer technology included world.
Further Reading on Grace Hopper
Her interest in computers was instigated primarily after her service in the Naval Reserve to assist her country in WWII. She was assigned to work at Harvard University on the Mark series. She received the Naval Ordnance Development Award for her programming success on the Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III. She also worked with the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation on the UNIVAC I. Hopper was the developer of the first compiler of programming language; COBOL. The term "debugging" actually came from her experiences. While working on Mark II at Harvard, she discovered an actual moth in a relay, creating problems in the operations. Debugging computers all started with a real live moth. Before retiring, she had reached high level ranks in the Naval Reserve and received many awards for her accomplishments in the computer world and the Naval Reserve. She died at age 85 in 1992, working as senior consultant at Digital Equipment Corporation.
She and her accomplishments are truly admired by all computer pioneers. She believed in the future and advancement of computer technology, always persevering to make things work, and to make them more user friendly. The foundation she laid for computer programming language is a legacy that will be carried out so long as humans live in a computer technology included world.
Further Reading on Grace Hopper