Timeline: Grace "Amazing Grace" Hopper

Dec 9, 1906

Grace Murray is born

Grace Brewster Murray was born in New York City to Walter Fletcher Murray and Mary Campbell Van Horn

1928

She graduates from Vassar College

Murray began her educational career Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she studied mathematics and physics. She attended Vassar from 1924-1928.

1930

She earns her masters degree at Yale

From 1928-1930, Murray earned a fellowship to study at Yale, and she graduated with a masters degree in mathematics.

1931

She is employed at Vassar College until 1943

Hopper spent 12 years working as a professor of math at Vassar College, the same school where she earned her bachelor's degree.

1934

She earns her PhD at Yale

Hopper earned a PhD in mathematics from Yale, and her dissertation was titled "New Types of Irreducibility Criteria."

Jul 30, 1941

WAVES

Congress allowed for the establishment of the Women's Navy Reserve, creating Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES).

Dec 7, 1941

Pearl Harbor

Japan bombed Pearl Harbor which inspired Hopper to join the Navy, as her family had a history of military service.

1942

Hopper joins the Navy

Although she was initially denied due to her age, height, weight, and importance at Vassar, Hopper persisted and enlisted into WAVES.

1944

Hopper is sent to Harvard

Hopper was assigned to work with Howard Aiken and Richard Bloch on the IBM Mark I at Harvard. After the war, she stayed at Harvard to work on the Mark II and Mark III until 1949.

1945

She writes the first computer manual

Lt. Hopper finished the Mark I computer manual titled, "A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator."

1949

Hopper joins Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation

Harvard did not have permanent positions for women, so Hopper left and joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in Philadelphia. She would work on the UNIVAC I and UNIVAC II

1952

She creates the first computer compiler

While working on the UNIVAC, Hopper developed the first computer compiler, named A-0. This allowed for the computer to translate mathematical code to machine readable code.

1956

FLOW-MATIC

Despite being told it was impossible, Hopper invented FLOW-MATIC which was a programming language that used English commands.

1959

Hopper and COBOL

Hopper designed COBOL, common business-oriented language, and compilers that would become standardized in the computer world.

1964

Hopper receives award from Society of Women Engineers

Hopper was awarded the SWE Achievement Award in recognition for her work on computer languages and programs.

Dec 31, 1966

Hopper is forced to retire

Hopper was forced to retire by the Navy because she had done over 20 years in service and was 60-years-old.

Aug 1, 1967

Hopper serves as the Director of the Navy Programming Languages Group for the Navy

Roughly seven months after her forced retirement, the Navy asked Hopper to come back temporarily for a a special assignment: standardize computer programming languages for the navy's computers. She was responsible for the standardization of COBOL on Navy computers. Hopper's 'temporary' six month position back in the Navy turned into ten years, and from 1967-1977 Hopper was the Director of the Navy Programming Languages Group for the Office of Information Systems Planning.

1971

Hopper retires from UNIVAC

At age 65 she retired from the UNIVAC division.

Aug 14, 1986

Rear Admiral Hopper retires from Navy once and for all

At the age of 79, Hopper retired for a second, and final time.

1991

Hopper receives National Medal of Technology

President George Bush awarded Grace Hopper the National Medal of Technology for her outstanding contributions to science. She was the first woman to receive this award.