Admiral Grace Murray Hopper: One Of The First Female Computer Technology

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Admiral Grace Murray Hopper is known as one of the first female computer scientists and the mother of Corbel programming. Hopper was born on December 9, 1906 in New York City and was the oldest of three children. Even as a child she loved played with gadgets, disassembling items such an alarm clocks to determine how they worked (Norman). Hopper parents and siblings had a huge impact on her life. Her father who was a successful insurance broker inspired Hopper to pursue higher education and not limit her to typical feminine roles during that time (Norman). Hopper excelled in school graduating from Vassar College in 1928 with a BA in mathematic and physics (Rajaraman 2). She later went on to receive her MA in mathematics from Yale University in 1930 and her PhD in 1943 (Rajaraman 2). Having ties to the U.S Navy do to her grandfather being a Rear Admiral and the shortage of men during World War II, Hopper joined the Navy. Since women were not allowed to be in the Navy before the shortage, women were accepted into the "Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service ' (WAVES) (Rajaraman …show more content…

Grace Hopper was a pioneer and not only paved the way for modern computing but also for professional women everywhere. Women in the computer industry are a minority, however Grace Hopper never left that get in the way of her success. When Hopper began women were not even allowed to serve in the Navy but due to World War II the amount of women in the IT world began to change. Women were now running the computers and Hopper took this opportunity to not only contribute to society but also contribute as a strong and smart women figure. Her contribution for women in society have been recognized and honored to the day. Every year there is a conference held in her name called the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference. This conference since 1994, brings together both women (and now men) to address the large gender imbalance in the IT professions (Strawn and Strawn

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