Grace hopper biography summary examples

Amazing Grace” taught computers how to talk

Grace Hopper is best known for her trailblazing contributions to computer programming, software development, and the design and implementation of programming languages. They wanted Commander Hopper to work on improving their computer programs.

Hopper’s Navy career began with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II. In December 1943, she took a leave of absence from her position as associate professor at Vassar to join the US Naval (Women’s) Reserve. The term “computer programmer” wasn’t yet in use, but that was the task she tackled with two colleagues.

In 1949, she joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in Philadelphia as a senior mathematician. She subsequently obtained master’s and Ph.D. In the late 1950s, Grace worked with a group of programmers to develop a language that could be used by different kinds of businesses and on a variety of computers.

Most famously in 1947, she coined bug after finding an actual moth stuck in a Mark II circuit.

In 1953 Hopper proposed the idea of writing programs in words rather than symbols. They did complex calculations related to the war effort, including the design of the atomic bomb. These traits allowed her to succeed in the male-dominated field of computer science.

She described the experience as “the most complete freedom I’d ever had.”

In 1944, the Navy sent Lieutenant (junior grade) Grace Hopper to Harvard University to work on the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator. When she could not put it back together, she decided to expand her study by taking apart the seven other alarm clocks found throughout her family’s large house.

The war also created opportunities for women to enter the workforce in greater numbers. degrees from Yale University, both in mathematics. In other words, they did not want to lose Grace’s intellect and experience to other forms of war work. Her time in the Navy was defined by persistence, brilliance, and a fierce commitment to bringing the future of technology into the service of her country.