- In full:
- Grace Murray Hopper
- Née:
- Grace Brewster Murray
- Awards And Honors:
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016)
- Subjects Of Study:
- COBOL
- Harvard Mark I
- UNIVAC
- compiler
Grace Hopper
-
Who was Grace Hopper?
Grace Hopper (1906-1992) was an American mathematician and rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. She helped develop UNIVAC I, the first commercial electronic computer, and created naval applications for COBOL. In 1943, Hopper joined the Naval Reserve and was assigned to the Bureau of Ordnance’s Computation Project at Harvard University where she worked on Mark I, a large-scale automatic calculator. She wrote the first computer manual, A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (1946). In 1949, she designed one of the first compilers and coined the word compiler. She retired from the navy as a commander in 1966, but returned the following year to standardize the navy’s computer languages. She retired again in 1986 and was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1991.
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What role did Grace Hopper have in the United States Navy?
Grace Hopper served in the U.S. Navy, joining the Naval Reserve in 1943 and achieving the rank of lieutenant. She was assigned to Harvard University's Bureau of Ordnance Computation Project in 1944, where she worked on the Mark I, a large-scale automatic calculator.
Hopper remained at Harvard as a civilian research fellow while maintaining her naval career as a reservist. In 1966, she retired from the Navy as a commander but was recalled to active duty the following year to standardize the Navy's computer languages. Hopper retired again in 1986 as a rear admiral, the oldest officer on active U.S. naval duty at 79.
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What did Grace Hopper study and work on as a mathematician?
Grace Hopper, an American mathematician and U.S. Naval officer, significantly contributed to computer technology. After teaching mathematics at Vassar College, she joined the Naval Reserve in 1943. At Harvard University, she worked on the Mark I, the first large-scale automatic calculator, and wrote its operation manual in 1946.
In 1949, Hopper joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp., where she designed one of the first compilers and worked on the UNIVAC I. Her division developed Flow-Matic, the first English-language data-processing compiler, which influenced COBOL's development. Hopper's advocacy led to COBOL's widespread use in the 1960s. She promoted high-level programming languages and helped overcome resistance to the idea.
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How did Grace Hopper contribute to the development of computers?
Grace Hopper, a mathematician and rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, significantly contributed to computer technology. While working for the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp. in 1949, she designed one of the first compilers, coining the term itself, which translated a programmer’s instructions into computer codes. As head programmer, she worked on the UNIVAC I. Hopper also developed compilers for COBOL and advocated for its use, leading to its widespread adoption in the 1960s. Throughout the 1950s, she tirelessly promoted high-level programming languages, helping to remove resistance to the idea and influencing IBM to incorporate computers into their business machines.
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What is COBOL and how was Grace Hopper involved with it?
COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) is a high-level computer programming language created in 1959. It was designed to be portable and readable, resembling ordinary English, so programs could run on different computers with minimal modification.
Grace Hopper, a mathematician and U.S. Navy rear admiral, helped develop naval applications for COBOL. Her division developed Flow-Matic, the first English-language data-processing compiler, in 1957, which inspired many features of COBOL. Hopper's development of compilers for COBOL and her advocacy for the language led to its widespread adoption in the 1960s.
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Why is Grace Hopper remembered as a pioneer in computer science and technology?
Grace Hopper is remembered as a pioneer in computer science and technology for her groundbreaking work on the first commercial electronic computer, UNIVAC I. She designed one of the first compilers, which translated a programmer’s instructions into computer codes, and coined the word compiler. Her division developed Flow-Matic, the first English-language data-processing compiler, which inspired the development of COBOL. Hopper's work on COBOL compilers and her advocacy for the language led to its widespread adoption in the 1960s. In 1991, she said that she was most proud of training young people over the years, which she felt was more important than writing the first compiler.
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Grace Hopper (born December 9, 1906, New York, New York, U.S.—died January 1, 1992, Arlington, Virginia) was an American mathematician and rear admiral in the U.S. Navy who was a pioneer in developing computer technology, helping to devise UNIVAC I, the first commercial electronic computer, and naval applications for COBOL (common-business-oriented language).
After graduating from Vassar College (B.A., 1928), Hopper attended Yale University (M.A., 1930; Ph.D., 1934). She taught mathematics at Vassar before joining the Naval Reserve in 1943. She became a lieutenant and was assigned to the Bureau of Ordnance’s Computation Project at Harvard University (1944), where she worked on Mark I, the first large-scale automatic calculator and a precursor of electronic computers. She wrote the first computer manual, A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (1946), which described how to operate Mark I and was the first extensive treatment of how to program a computer. She remained at Harvard as a civilian research fellow while maintaining her naval career as a reservist.
In 1949 Hopper joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp., where she designed one of the first compilers, which translated a programmer’s instructions into computer codes, and coined the word compiler. As head programmer, she worked on the design of UNIVAC I. She remained with the firm when it was taken over by Remington Rand (1951) and by Sperry Rand Corp. (1955). In 1957 her division developed Flow-Matic, the first English-language data-processing compiler, which had many features that inspired the development of COBOL. Her development of compilers for COBOL and her strong advocacy of the language led to its widespread use in the 1960s. She retired from the navy with the rank of commander in 1966, but she was recalled to active duty the following year to help standardize the navy’s computer languages. She was promoted to commodore in 1983, and that rank was incorporated into that of rear admiral in 1985. At the age of 79, she was the oldest officer on active U.S. naval duty when she retired again in 1986.
Hopper was elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (1962) and was named the first computer science Man of the Year by the Data Processing Management Association (1969). When she was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1991, she said “If you ask me what accomplishment I’m most proud of, the answer would be all the young people I’ve trained over the years; that’s more important than writing the first compiler.” She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.