Sunrise: December 9, 1906

1. Sunrise: December 9, 1906 Sunset: January 1, 1992

2. A Glance at Grace M. Hopper Life • Place of Birth: New York City, New York • Allegiance: United States of America • Service/Branch: United States Navy • Years of Service: 1943-1966, 1967-1971, 1972-1986 • Rank: Rear Admiral • Place of Death: Arlington, Virginia

3. Biographical Overview • Born as Grace Brewster Murray • Attended the Hartridge School in Plainfield, NJ. • Graduated in 1928 from Vassar College as a Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Physics. • Graduated from Yale University in 1930 with Master’s Degree • Married Vincent Hopper in 1930

4. Biographical Overview Continued • Began teaching Mathematics at Vassar in 1931 • In 1934 received a Ph.D. in Mathematics • Named Associate Professor in 1941 • She took leave of absence to be sworn into United States Navy in 1943 • One of many women volunteer to serve in the WAVES • Divorced in 1945

5. Accomplishments • American computer scientist and United States Naval officer. • One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I calculator. • Developed the first compiler for a computer programming language. • Referred to as “Amazing Grace” • Senior Mathematician at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in 1949 • She also joined the team developing the UNIVAC I

6. Honors • 1969 – She won the first "man of the year" award from the Data Processing Management Association • 1971 – The annual “Grace Murray Hopper Award for Outstanding Young Computer Professionals” was established in 1971 by the Association for Computing Machinery. • 1973 – She became the first person from the United States and the first woman of any nationality to be made a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society. • 1986 – Upon her retirement she received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. • 1987 – She became a Computer History Museum Fellow Award Recipient. • 1988 – She received the Golden Gavel Award at the Toastmaster International convention in Washington, DC. • 1991 – She received the National Medal of Technology • 1996 – USS Hopper (DDG-70) was launched. Nicknamed Amazing Grace, it is on a very short list of U.S. military vessels named after women. • 2001 – Eavan Boland wrote a poem dedicated to Grace Hopper titled "Code" in her 2001 release “Against Love Poetry”

7. In the Name Of Grace Hopper • The Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center is located at 7 Grace Hopper Avenue in Monterey, California. • Grace Murray Hopper Park, located on South Joyce Street in Arlington, Virginia, is a small memorial park in front of her former residence (River House Apartments) and is now owned by Arlington County, Virginia. • Women at the world's largest software company, Microsoft Corporation, formed an employee group called "Hoppers" and established a scholarship in her honor. Hoppers has over 3000 members worldwide. • Brewster Academy, a school located in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, dedicated their computer lab to her in 1985, calling it the Grace Murray Hopper Center for Computer Learning. Hopper had spent her childhood summers at a family home in Wolfeboro. • An administration building on Naval Support Activity Annapolis (Previously known as Naval Station Annapolis) in Annapolis, Maryland is named "The Grace Hopper Building" in her honor.

8. Standards • In the 1970s, she pioneered the implementation of standards for testing computer systems and components • Most significantly for early programming languages such as FORTRAN and COBOL. • In the 1980s, these tests were assumed by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), known today as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

9. Retirement • End of 1966, Hopper retired from the Naval Reserve with the rank of Commander • In August of 1967, she was recalled for a six-month period that turned into an indefinite assignment. • Retired again in 1971 but was asked to return to active duty again in 1972. • Promoted to Captain in 1973 by Admiral Elmo R. Zumalt, Jr. • March of 1983 segment of 60 minutes was aired and Rep. Phillip Crane was watching, he championed H.J.RES.341 a joint resolution in the House of Representatives which led to her promotion to Commodore by special Presidential appointment. • In 1985, the rank of Commodore was renamed Rear Admiral, Lower Half. • She retired, involuntarily, from the Navy on August 14, 1986. • Hopper was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the highest non-combat award possible by the Department of Defense. • At the moment of her retirement, she was the oldest officer in the United States Navy, and aboard the oldest ship in the United States Navy • Hired as a senior consultant to Digital Equipment Corporation, a position she retained until her death in 1992 at age 85.

10. Ms. Hopper Today • "Creating Technology For Social Good" Tucson, ArizonaSeptember 30 - October 3, 2009 • The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industrial, academic and government communities. Leading researchers present their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research and engineering. • Past Grace Hopper Celebrations have resulted in collaborative proposals, networking, mentoring, and increased visibility for the contributions of women in computing. • Other important dates for next year's conference will be: • Call for Participation-Now Open • Call for Participation Closes - March 16, 2009 (This date will not be extended) • Scholarship Applications Open - March 19, 2009 • Registration Opens - May 19, 2009

11. Hopper Famous Quotes • “Its’ easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission” • “A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what a ship is built for.” • “ I believe in having an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.”

12. Glossary • COBOL (pronounced /ˈkoʊbɒl/) is one of the oldest programming languages still in active use. Its name is an acronym for Common Business-Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments. • Fortran (previously FORTRAN[1] is a general-purpose,[2] procedural,[3] imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing • UNIVAC serves as the catch-all name for the American manufacturers of the lines of mainframe computers by that name, which through mergers and acquisitions underwent numerous name changes. The company UNIVAC began as the business computer division of Remington Rand formed by the 1950 purchase of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, founded four years earlier by ENIAC inventors J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly. The name stands for "UNIVersal Automatic Computer".

13. Rest In Peace • She was laid to rest with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery; Section 59, grave 973

14. Bibliography • www.google.com • www.wikipedia.org • Marx, Christy (2003). Grace Hopper: Admiral of the Cyber Sea, New York City: Rosen Publishing Group • Wexelblat, Richard (1981). History of Programming Languages, New York: Academic Press