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Grace Hopper

American computer scientist and United States Navy officer (1906-1992) · United States · Developers · Died at 85

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She taught computers to understand English. Grace Hopper's insight - that programming languages could be built on words instead of raw machine code - laid the groundwork for COBOL and made software legible to generations of people who would never touch a soldering iron.

ScientistsAcademicMathematicsWeb DevelopmentPhysicsAIUnited StatesAmericas

A life in dates

2016Presidential Medal of FreedomAward1994National Women's Hall of FameAward1992Died1 January 19921991National Medal of Technology and InnovationAward1989“I had a running compiler and nobody would touch it. ... they carefully told me, computers could only do arithmetic; they could not do programs.”In their wordsAs quoted in Grace Hopper : Navy Admiral and Computer Pioneer (1989) by Charlene W. Billings, p. 74

1988IEEE Emanuel R. Piore AwardAward1987Computer History Museum FellowAward1986“There's something you learn in your first boot-camp, or training camp: If they put you down somewhere with nothing to do, go to sleep - you don't know when you'll get any more.”In their words2 October 1986Grace Hopper on Late Night with David Letterman (2 October 1986)

“I handed my passport to the immigration officer, and he looked at it and looked at me and said, "What are you?”In their words24 August 1986On being the oldest active-duty officer in the U.S. military, in an interview on 60 Minutes (24 August 1986)

“At the end of about a week, I called back and said, "I need something to compare this to. Could I please have a microsecond?”In their words24 August 1986On demonstrating a millionth of a second of electricity travel with a piece of wire, in an interview on 60 Minutes (24 August 1986)

“At present, we're putting on paper a lot of stuff that never needed to be on paper. We do need to keep the records. But there isn't any reason for printing them.”In their wordsJuly 1986As quoted in the U.S. Navy's Chips Ahoy magazine (July 1986)

1985Defense Distinguished Service MedalAward1983ACM Distinguished Service AwardAwardAda Lovelace AwardAward1979W. Wallace McDowell AwardAward1973Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer SocietyAwardLegionnaire of Legion of MeritAward1972Wilbur Cross MedalAward1970Harry H. Goode Memorial AwardAward1964Society of Women Engineers Achievement AwardAward1962“We must include in any language with which we hope to describe complex data-processing situations the capability for describing data.”In their wordsAs quoted in Management and the Computer of the Future (1962) by Sloan School of Management, p. 273

1906Born9 December 1906

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Commodore Grace M. Hopper, USN (covered)Commodore Grace M. Hopper, USN (covered)428-GX-USN 1157762 (25700694682)428-GX-USN 1157762 (25700694682)428-GX-USN 1157763 (25700693892)428-GX-USN 1157763 (25700693892)428-GX-USN 1157764 (25821649385)428-GX-USN 1157764 (25821649385)90-115-AG, AH, Wire Nanosecond (15864510468)90-115-AG, AH, Wire Nanosecond (15864510468)CCCamp 2019 by CountCrapula 053CCCamp 2019 by CountCrapula 053Commodore Grace Hopper, an early computer pioneerCommodore Grace Hopper, an early computer pioneerCommodore Grace M. Hopper, special assistant to the commander, Naval Data Automation Command, speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Grace M. Hopper Navy Regional Data Au - DPLA - 96aa3ef0e8f51e2915d29724177d517eCommodore Grace M. Hopper, special assistant to the commander, Naval Data Automation Command, speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Grace M. Hopper Navy Regional Data Au - DPLA - 96aa3ef0e8f51e2915d29724177d517e

In their own words 10

,
Grace Hopper
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. I had a running compiler and nobody would touch it. ... they carefully told me, computers could only do arithmetic; they could not do programs.

    1989, As quoted in Grace Hopper : Navy Admiral and Computer Pioneer (1989) by Charlene W. Billings, p. 74, Own words

  2. [The Computer] was the first machine man built that assisted the power of his brain instead of the strength of his arm.

    1987, As spoken at Space Coast 1987 speaking about the Harvard Mark I computer. The Computer was originally She in reference to the Mark I., Own words

  3. There's something you learn in your first boot-camp, or training camp: If they put you down somewhere with nothing to do, go to sleep - you don't know when you'll get any more.

    Oct 2, 1986, Grace Hopper on Late Night with David Letterman (2 October 1986), Own words

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Awards

Presidential Medal of Freedom2016
National Women's Hall of Fame1994
National Medal of Technology and Innovation1991
IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award1988
Computer History Museum Fellow1987
Washington Award1987
Defense Distinguished Service Medal1985
ACM Distinguished Service Award1983
Ada Lovelace Award1983
W. Wallace McDowell Award1979
Legionnaire of Legion of Merit1973
Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society1973
Fellow of the British Computer Society1973
Wilbur Cross Medal1972
Harry H. Goode Memorial Award1970
Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award1964
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Meritorious Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Armed Forces Reserve Medal
Legion of Merit

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About this person

Grace Hopper held a Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale and taught at Vassar before leaving academia to join the Navy Reserve in World War II. In 1944 she joined the Harvard Mark I team and wrote what's considered the first computer manual. By 1949 she was at Eckert-Mauchly, working on UNIVAC I and managing compiler development. She finished her A-0 linker in 1952, led the release of FLOW-MATIC in 1954, and in 1959 helped create COBOL through the CODASYL consortium - a machine-independent language built on English terms that she championed through the 1960s. She retired a rear admiral, collected forty honorary degrees, and in 1991 received the National Medal of Technology. A Navy destroyer, a Cray supercomputer, and a college at Yale all carry her name.

Country
United States
Category
Developers
Type
Developer
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1906 to 1992 · aged 85

Developers from the United States 6

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