Grace Hopper

American computer scientist and United States Navy officer (1906–1992)

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Lived 1906–1992, aged 86United States

United States ScientistsAcademic

Fame28.5
Momentum0.0
United States rank#232
Scientists rank#106
Wikipedia33.1K

Wikipedia
73 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in United States
#232
Scientists
Era
1906–1992
Aged 86

Summary

Updated 2026-05-29

Grace Hopper pioneered machine-independent programming languages and helped create COBOL, the high-level language that refused to die. She was a Navy rear admiral who also wrote the first computer manual and programmed Harvard's Mark I.

Biography

About

Grace Brewster Hopper was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and United States Navy rear admiral. She was a pioneer of computer programming. Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages, and used this theory to develop the FLOW-MATIC programming language and COBOL, an early high-level programming language still in use today. She was also one of the first programmers on the Harvard Mark I computer. She is credited with writing the first computer manual, "A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator."

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