Grace Hopper was an amazing person. Not only was she part of the US Navy, but was a brilliant computer scientist as well. During World War 2 Grace Hopper joined the Navy Reserve and after her training, she was positioned at the computer project in Harvard University. This is where she would make a name for herself.
Mark 1 Computer
From 1944 until 1949, Grace worked at the Harvard Computation Lab and helped develop the Mark 1 computer, as well as write three papers about the project alongside the person heading it, Howard Aiken. This computer was the first of few designed by Akin and laid the path to creating machines that preformed calculations. The Mark 1 played its role during World War 2 by helping with the Manhattan Project, which was the name given to the plan to make the first atomic bomb. John von Neumann and his team were working on calculations for the Manhattan Project and to speed up the process, “On 29 March 1944, he demanded to run certain problems regarding implosion on the Mark I.”
US Navy
Grace Hopper was committed to helping in the war effort during World War 2. Grace Hopper “had tried to enlist in the Navy early in World War II. She was rejected for multiple reasons.” She was too old and short. Also, at the time she worked as the mathematics professor at Vassar Collage and was told she can not leave that job. Her commitment was shown when Hopper left her job at the collage and joined the Navy Reserves.
Honors
During her career Grace Hopper was acknowledged many times for her accomplishments in computer science. In 1973 she became the first American to become a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society. When she retired from the Navy in 1986, Hopper was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. The Navy honored Grace Hopper again in 1996 when they released a destroyer ship named the USS Hopper. President Barack Obama recognized the amazing computer scientist by awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. Lastly, Grace Hopper has 40 honorary degrees to her name from universities all around the world.
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