AP Computer Science Superhero #3: Grace Hopper

Birth:

December 9, 1906

Death

January 1, 1992

Quote:

"Management is about things, leadership is about people."

Academic Events

• Graduated from Vassar College with a degree in mathematics & physics
• Received her Master's degree and PhD in mathematics at Yale
• Taught mathematics at Vassar while pursuing her doctorate
• Studied with Richard Courant at NYU
• Joined the U.S. Naval Women's Reserve
• Assigned to the Bureau of Ships Computation Project at Harvard
• Joined the Eckert-Maunchly Computer Corporation as a senior mathematician
• Took part in the Conference on Data Systems Language
• Worked as a senior consultant in public relations at the Digital Equipment Corporation

Main Contribution:

• Participated in the designing of COBOL (common business-oriented language), known by the 1970s as the "most extensively used computer language" in the world

Other Contributions:

• Worked on the MARK I computer at Harvard University
• Helped create FLOW-MATIC, the "first programming language to use word commands"
• Worked on the UNIVAC I and II computers
• With colleagues, she worked on calculations which were vital for the war effrot, such as rocket trajectories, calibrating minesweepers, and more
• Wrote the user manual for the Mark I compuer

Fun Fact:

• Her subordinates gave her the nickname "Amazing Grace" because of her astounding accomplishments in life
• She helped familiarize the term "debugging," when a moth was found in a computer

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