Grace Hopper Celebration
By: Michelle Fisher
As a current junior in computer science, I have spent a lot of my time looking at companies and internships for next summer. From this experience, I have been able to recognize which companies host diversity events, some of which are mainly Women in Tech panels hosted by the companies’ employees. One event that I have seen referenced by a few companies was the Grace Hopper Celebration. I have heard about this event before as it celebrates women in technology by allowing them to come together and share interests and research in the computing field. Despite knowing about this event and the many accomplished women that speak at this yearly celebration, I did not know anything about Grace Hopper, the namesake for this event, and decided that I should learn more about her and her accomplishments in computing.
To many people not in the field of computing, Hopper’s accomplishments may seem somewhat rudimentary now, but these developments paved the way for the computing field to be where it is now. The A-0 system was developed for the UNIVAC 1, an electronic computer that was designed for business application, and was essential for program specifications to be translated into machine code so that a program could run on the UNIVAC, and not just arithmetic anymore. Hopper’s work on FLOW-MATIC was also significant in that it was the first English-like data processing language and differed greatly from existing languages, like FORTRAN, where the processing problems could only be expressed using mathematical symbols. She also contributed to the computer language COBOL (common business-oriented language), one of the first high-level languages, and promoted its use to the private sector and the military so that by the 1970s, it was the most used language in the world.
“To me programming is more than an important practical art. It is also a gigantic undertaking in the foundations of knowledge.”
Before researching Grace Hopper, I knew her by name only because of the Grace Hopper Celebration. This event not only acknowledges the achievements of Grace Hopper herself, but celebrates the present achievements of women in technology and pushes to promote the futures of women and girls in the computing field. I feel that having events and celebrations like this is important to promote the work that women do in research and the workforce so that these interests and innovations in technology can be acknowledged, promoted and celebrated by those in the industry, research field and general public.
Written By: Michelle Fisher
Michelle is a current junior studying computer Science at Arizona State University and is currently a Barrett Scholars Fellow working on the CompuPower grant. She gained her interest to pursue the field of technology through her interests in robotics and art. Through some of her volunteer experiences, she grew a passion for contributing to closing the technology gap that exists in communities and across the globe. In addition to this, she seeks to help close the gender gap in the technology field in an effort to help diversify computer science and other related fields. Outside of school, Michelle spends her time baking, painting, and listening to history podcasts.
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