Grace Murray hopper was an American computer scientist who is renowned for programming the first computers and was involved in development of COBOL
Grace Hopper
@Yale University, Career and Childhood
Dec 9, 1906
Biography
Personal Details
- Birthday: December 9, 1906
- Died on: January 1, 1992
- Nationality: American
- Famous: Yale University, Computer Scientists, Miscellaneous, Soldiers
- Hobbies: Playing the piano, Reading
- Spouses: Vincent Foster Hopper
- Siblings: Dr. Roger Franklin Murray, II, Mary Murray Westcote
Grace Hopper born at
New York City
Unsplash
Birth Place
Grace was married to Vincent Foster Hopper but the couple divorced in 1945. They had no children.
Unsplash
Personal Life
On January 1st, 1992, the renowned computer scientist breathed her last, in Arlington, Virginia.
Unsplash
Personal Life
In her honour, the ‘Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computer Science’, a technical conference is organized which encourage women to be part of the computing world. She was an inspirational speaker who encouraged young people to learn programming.
Unsplash
Personal Life
Grace was born on December 9th, 1906 in New York and was the oldest among her siblings. Her parents Walter Fletcher Murray and Mary Campbell Van Horne were of mixed culture; Scottish and Dutch.
Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life
As a child Grace was curious and dismantled seven alarm clocks to understand its functionalities. She attended the ‘Hartridge School’ in New Jersey for preparatory education.
Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life
At the age of 16, she was rejected at the ‘Vassar College’, because of her insufficient marks in Latin. The next year, Grace was accepted and got her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, when she completed her graduation in 1928.
Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life
In 1930, she received her Master’s degree in Mathematics from ‘Yale University’.
Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life
She then began research work for her doctoral degree simultaneously taking up a position as member of faculty at the ‘Vassar College’ in 1931. Three years later she successfully obtained her PhD from Yale.
Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life
She worked in Vassar till 1943 when she joined United States Naval Reserve to serve her country during wartime. The following year Grace was commissioned as a lieutenant.
Unsplash
Career
She was assigned a project of ‘Bureau of Ordinance Computation Project’ in Harvard presenting her the opportunity to work in the university’s ‘Cruft Laboratories’ on Mark computers.
Unsplash
Career
In 1946, Grace resigned from Vassar to become a research fellow in Harvard’s Computation Laboratory. She took up the position in applied physics and engineering.
Unsplash
Career
In 1949, Grace joined ‘Eckert-Mauchly Corporation’ and was given the position of Senior Mathematician.
Unsplash
Career
This company was taken over by Remington Rand in 1950 and was merged with ‘Sperry Corporation’ after five years.
Unsplash
Career
Grace led the team which invented COBOL or Common-Business Oriented Language, one of the user-friendly computer software programs which can be used for business purpose. Though she did not invent the language, she definitely encouraged its adaptation.Awards & Achievements
Unsplash
Major Works
In 1969, Grace was awarded the first ‘Computer Science Man-of-the-Year Award’ from ‘Data Processing Management Association’.
Unsplash
Major Works
In 1973, she was the first woman and the first US citizen to be honoured as the ‘Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society’.
Unsplash
Major Works
In 1986, she was awarded the ‘Defense Distinguished Service Medal’.
Unsplash
Major Works
In 1991, she was awarded the ‘National Medal of Technology’. She was the first woman recipient of this honour.
Unsplash
Major Works