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Born Grace Brewster Murray in 1906, she married Vincent Foster Hopper in 1930. THey had no children.
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She graduated from Vassar College with a BA in Mathematics and Physics.
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She earned her MA in Mathematics at Yale University
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Grace Hopper completed her PhD in Mathematics at Yale, becoing one of the few women to hold such a degree at the time.
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She joined the U.S Naval Reserve during WWII, beginning her military and computing career.
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The following year, she was assigned to the Bureau of Ordance Computation Project at Harvard University, working on the Mark 1 computer.
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She coined the term "debugging" when she removed an actual moth from a computer relay, leading to the popularization of the term in computing.
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Began work at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, contributing to the development of the UNIVAC I.
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Developed the first complier, called A-0 which translated mathematical code into machine-readable language.
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Participated in the Conference on Data Systems Languages (CODASYL), which led to the creation of COBOL, a significant programming language used in business and government.
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Retired from the Navy but was recalled in 1967 due to her expertise.
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Received the first Computer Science Man-of-the-Year Award from the Data Processing Management Association.
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Promoted to the rank of commodore (later changed to rear admiral) in recognition of her contributions.
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Retired as the oldest active-duty commissioned officer in the Navy at age 79.
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Passed away and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 for her pioneering work.