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Grace Murray is born
Grace Brewster Murray was born in New York City to Walter Fletcher Murray and Mary Campbell Van Horn -
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. -
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. -
She gets married
Grace Murray-Hopper and Vincent Foster Hopper get married. -
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She is employed at Vassar College
Hopper spent 12 years working as a professor of math at Vassar College, the same school where she earned her bachelor's degree. -
She earns her PhD at Yale
Hopper earned a PhD in mathematics from Yale, and her dissertation was titled "New Types of Irreducibility Criteria." -
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Fellowship and Courant
Hopper was granted a fellowship faculty position at Vassar and was able to take classes with and study under Richard Courant at NYU. -
WAVES
Congress allowed for the establishment of the Women's Navy Reserve, creating Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). -
Pearl Harbor
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor which inspired Hopper to join the Navy, as her family had a history of military service. -
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. -
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. -
Hopper goes solo
Grace Murray Hopper and Vincent Foster Hopper get divorced. Sources are divided and say they were divorced as early as 1941 or as late as 1946. -
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." -
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 -
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. -
FLOW-MATIC
Despite being told it was impossible, Hopper invented FLOW-MATIC which was a programming language that used English commands. -
Hopper and COBOL
Hopper designed COBOL, common business-oriented language, and compilers that would become standardized in the computer world. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
Hopper retires from UNIVAC
At age 65 she retired from the UNIVAC division. -
Rear Admiral Hopper retires from Navy once and for all
At the age of 79, Hopper retired for a second, and final time. -
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. -
Grace Hopper dies
Hopper died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 85 in Arlington, VA. She left an incredible and inspiring legacy. -
Grace Hopper is awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
President Barack Obama awarded Grace Hopper the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was received by her great-niece, Deborah Murray.