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Grace Murray Hopper: 'The Grand Old Lady of Software'
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11960 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1987 |
3,582 Words |
| Author
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Cheryl Wetzstein and Linda Joyce Forristal
Cheryl Wetzstein is a free-lance writer residing in Virginia.
Linda Joyce Forristal is a science editor for The World & I. |
Affectionately known as "Grandma COBOL," "Amazing Grace" and the "Grand Old Lady of Software," Rear Adm. Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (USNR Ret.) is first and foremost a no-nonsense Navy woman who carries a sharp memory and strong opinions.
At 80, after four decades in the Navy and now working in the private sector, she describes herself as being lean and tough, thanks to her Scottish ancestry. She is as impatient with nonfeminine behavior from females as she is adamant that women's historical achievements - like that of "Rosey the Riveter" - not be forgotten. "Rosey the Riveter" is not one person but a name for all the women who worked in factories during World War II. They even held a reunion in California in 1986. According to Hopper, these women are concrete evidence that the so-called fairer sex has had plenty of opportunity to prove its worth in society.
As a pioneer in the male-dominated field of computer programming and language, she has strong opinions about women's contributions because her gender is often mentioned as an equally remarkable factor in the achievement. She brooks no such notion, however.
"There were more women getting Ph.D.'s before World War II than there are today," she proudly noted in a recent interview, yet refrained from mentioning that this tally includes her own Ph.D. in mathematics, obtained from Yale University in 1934.
Academics played a major role early in Hopper's life. A native New Yorker, Hopper graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College in 1928, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and physics as well as a Vassar Faculty Fellowship. From Vassar, she went to Yale University, where she earned a Master of Arts degree in mathematics in 1930 and was invited to join Sigma Xi, the honor society of scientists recognized for their research accomplishments.
While working on her Ph.D. at Yale, she returned to Vassar, where she taught mathematics for three years. After receiving her doctorate in 1934, she continued to teach at Vassar, rising from instructor to associate professor. She remained in the academic field in New York State for the next decade, teaching at Barnard College one year, attending classes at New York University, and all the while fulfilling her Vassar duties.
Early Computer Days
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