Posted
on December 9, 2015
She
was called by some “Amazing Grace.”
And
that's because she was so gosh-darned accomplished!
Grace
Brewster Murray Hopper (born on this date in 1906, in New York City)
was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark 1 computer,
invented the first compiler for a computer programming language, and
helped develop the idea of programming languages independent of
particular machines – which led to the development of COBOL.
Which
in turn led to another of her nicknames: Grandma COBOL.
 |
| This is the semi-famous moth found inside a computer. |
Hopper
is even credited with popularizing the word “debugging” for
fixing computer programming glitches. The word “bugs” had been
used for a long time – even by Thomas Edison! – for the various
causes of technical difficulties, and the word “debugging” had
been used for removing causes of technical difficulties in
aeronautics. But when working on early computers at Harvard, some of
Hopper's associates discovered a moth that had stuck in the relays
and was causing a problem, so she quipped that they were debugging
the computer. Since the word was already used in similar fields, it
grabbed hold right away.
But
Grace Hopper wasn't just a computer scientist and pioneer. She was
also a United States Navy Rear Admiral.
She
volunteered for the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency
Service) during World War II, and she graduated from the Naval
Reserve Midshipmen's School first in her class. She worked for the
military as a computer programmer, starting as a lieutenant, junior
grade. She turned down a full professorship at Vassar (a highly
respected university) in order to continue with the Navy (really, the
Naval Reserve), and by the time she retired at age 60, she had
reached the rank of Commander. She was recalled to active duty in 1967. Then she was recalled again in 1972. Somewhere in there she was promoted to Captain. Finally, in 1983, Hopper was promoted to Commodore, a rank that was renamed Rear Admiral.
When
she finally really retire, she was the oldest active-duty
commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, and she was aboard the oldest
commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy.
So...amazing!
Applause,
applause...
Hopper
had a long life and a very, very long career. She won many awards,
and everything from Navy ships and computers to parks, schools, and
buildings have been named after her. Hopper was awarded 40 honorary
degrees from universities worldwide, and a whole lot of awards and
scholarships and even a professorship are named in Grace Hopper's
honor.
Words
of wisdom...
I've
included a couple of cool quotes from Hopper on this page, but here
is one more:
The
most important thing I've accomplished, other than building the
compiler, is training young people. They come to me, you know, and
say, 'Do you think we can do this?' I say, "Try it." And I
back 'em up. They need that. I keep track of them as they get older
and I stir 'em up at intervals so they don't forget to take chances.
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