Profiles of Famous Women was written by
Michael Cawthra, teacher at Kyffin Elementary School, Golden (CO) and former
Teachers Network web mentor.
March is Women's History Month!
Read about the accomplishments of these famous women.
Grace M. Hopper
Grace M. Hopper was responsible for writing COBOL- Common Business Oriented Language, in use around the world. She was a professor of mathematics at Vassar when she was recruited by the United States Navy to help build the first computer. That computer was the Mark I at Harvard University. The year was 1943. Ms. Hopper was in charge of building the first compiler to translate mathematics symbols into machine language. She was then inspired to write COBOL, for she realized that most people would not be able to communicate in mathematical language, so she developed the way to speak in plain English. She would continue working in the private sector for Univac, when she was recalled to duty in the navy to standardize their computers. Ms. Hopper died in 1992 as the highest ranking female in the military, as an admiral. So as you sit at your computer today, say a thank you to the memory of Grace Hopper, the woman who made computers accessible to all people.