• Habit and Motto: Grace Hopper had a habit of bucking convention and espoused the motto “It's always easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.”
• Computer Science Education Week: Each December's second week is Computer Science Education Week, chosen to commemorate Grace Hopper's birthday on December 9, 1906.
• Contributions to Computing: She made many contributions to computing. Her 1986 TV appearance on “Late Night with David Letterman” showed her personality. Her Wikipedia page gives an overview of her accomplishments, and books like “Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age” and “Grace Hopper: Admiral of the Cyber Sea” provide more in-depth studies.
• Burial Site: She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery overlooking the Potomac River. To find her grave, use the “find-a-grave app” or the cemetery's map. Her grave is in section 59, grave 973.
• Overcoming Obstacles: A gifted woman in a male field, she was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale in 1934. She joined the Naval Reserve despite being rejected due to her age and weight. She programmed the Mark I computer and wrote the first computer programming manual. She developed MATH-MATIC and FLOW-MATIC languages and the COBOL language. She also spearheaded the effort to create programming language standards.
• Military and Post-Military Career: She retired from the Naval Reserve multiple times but was recalled to duty. She reached the rank of rear admiral and continued to serve. After retiring from the Navy for the last time at 79, she worked as a consulting engineer at Digital Equipment Corp. until her death.
• Awards and Honors: She received many awards and honors during her lifetime, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Navy Meritorious Service Medal, and National Medal of Technology.
• Final Thoughts: She spent her life battling the “We've always done it this way” mindset and kept a “backwards clock” to remind herself. Visiting her grave in Washington D.C. is encouraged to remember her accomplishments and celebrate her legacy. CACM welcomes unsolicited submissions on computing topics.