Grace Murray-Hopper

Grace Murray Hopper

I chose Grace Hopper because I didn't know who she was, and I wanted to find out. She sounded interesting, and I thought that her name sounded familiar. While I was researching information, I remembered that I had a book about her. I could remember taking it to school once and reading it, and that she did something with computers and technology.

Facts in Brief

  • Full name: Grace Brewster Murray-Hopper
  • Birth: December 9, 1906 in New York City.
  • Parents: Mary Campbell Van Horne Murray and Walter Fletcher Murray.
  • College Education: She attended Vassar College, and did courses for engineering and physics. After graduating, she went to Yale, and got her Master's in 1930, and Doctorate in 1934.
  • Honors Medals, and Awards: She had some awards and honors such as: "Man of the Year," Rear Admiral rank in the Navy, membership into the National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the British Computer Society, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Navy Hall of Fame.
  • Marriage: She married Vincent Foster Hopper in 1930, but divorced in 1945, with no children.
  • Death: January 1, 1992.

    Her work in the Navy began in 1943, and ended in 1986. She rose in ranks from a young Navy Reserve lieutenant to rear admiral in 1985. She retired in 1966, but continued to work on COBOL. The military tradition went along in her family.

    Her establishments in computer science were creating COBOL, the first computer language. COBOL is still used by many computers. She was invited to join a Pentagon team. She also created the first compiler. She even went to Harvard to help Howard Aiken with his computer. A moth had flown into it, so she said she was debugging the machine. She continued after her retirement in the Navy. She stopped January 1, 1992, which was the day of her death.

    She has many nicknames such as: "Admiral Grace," "Amazing Grace," and "Grand Old Lady of Software."

    She has influenced society today, especially women. Thanks to her, women today can do what she did then. She also influences people who want to work with computers. Without her, I don't think our computers would be as good as they are now.

    Bibliography:

    1. Encyclopedia of World Biography- Second Edition. Volume 7. Gale Research. Pages 498-500.
    2. Women of the HallDate of Access: March 26, 2001.
    3. Grace Hopper Conference 2000. Date of Access: March 27, 2001
    4. Electric Library Author Unavailable, Hopper, Grace (1906-1992). The Hutchinson Dictionary of Computing, Multimedia, and the Internet, 1-01-1998.
    5. Bells N' Whistles Date of Access: April 3, 2001
    6. Media Builder Date of Access: April 3, 2001.

    Return to the Famous Women in History Projects Page.

    Created By: Jessa S. on April 3, 2001