This week’s Leader Profile is about Grace Hopper, grandmother of COBOL.

Grace Hopper (1906-1992) was a pioneering American computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. She made groundbreaking contributions to the field of computer programming, including developing the first compiler and popularizing the term “computer bug.”

Hopper joined the U.S. Navy Reserve in 1943 and worked on the Mark I computer at Harvard University. Her team at Remington Rand created the first compiler in 1952, which translated written instructions into machine code. This breakthrough paved the way for the development of COBOL, one of the earliest high-level programming languages, which Hopper helped design.

She remained in the Navy Reserve until her retirement in 1986 at the age of 79, becoming the oldest serving officer in the U.S. Armed Forces. Hopper’s legacy includes inspiring generations of young people to pursue careers in computing, and she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

— Kirti Shanbhag