Grace Hopper (1906-1992)

• Visionary:  one of the first people to program a computer; noted for her perseverance
• Notable thought: “We’ve always done it that way” is not necessarily a good reason to continue to do so
• Developed the first compiler despite being told that computers couldn’t be made to understand English; this allowed people to create commands using English instead of the raw numbers (machine language) that computers understand
• Rear Admiral in the US Navy: Has a guided missile destroyer named after her – The USS Hopper
• Credited with the term “debugging” after discovering a moth in the machine
• Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is an annual conference since 1994.  In October 2015, more than 10,000 women in technology participated!

References: The above information came from http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/Files/hopper-story.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper (including the photo)