Grace Hopper Foundations Of Modern Technology Nationals Save 4

Grace Hopper

Biography


       Grace Hopper, born Grace Brewster Murray, was born on December 9th, 1906, in New York City. Her parents fostered her creativity and allowed her to take apart alarm clocks because she was interested in how things worked. This open atmosphere for learning allowed her to create the compiler. In 1930, she married Vincent Foster Hopper but divorced him in 1945, which was uncommon in her time period. She did, however, keep his last name. Hopper became a math teacher at Vassar College in 1931 and was promoted to associate professor in 1941; her time as a professor was short, and she was granted leave in 1943 to join the Navy through WAVES. It was difficult for Hopper to join the Navy; she was too old, about 15 pounds underweight, and her job was not “ideal” for Navy purposes. That did not stop Hopper, and she graduated top of her class in 1944.

“If Wright is flight, and Edison is light, then Hopper is code.”

-Barack Obama

Image Courtesy of The National Womens History Museum.

Grace Hopper shaking hands with President Ronald Ragen. Image Courtesy of The United States Department of Defence.

Accomplishments


       On November 22, 2016, President Barack Obama presented Grace Hopper with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, recognizing her achievements in the computer science field. On Hopper’s behalf, her grandniece Deborah Murray accepted the award. A destroyer and the Naval Academy’s Cyber Studies Center are both named after Grace Hopper; the USS Hopper and Hopper Hall. Hopper is now buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

“Knowing what she had accomplished and how much the Navy valued her was an inspiration to me.”

-Vice Admiral Jan Tighe, recalling meeting Hopper at the U.S. Naval Academy