Commodore Grace Hopper, 77, in 1984. By the time she retired in 1986, Grace Hopper had advanced to the rank of Rear Admiral. Photo by James S. Davis.

Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was born in New York City December 9, 1906. The oldest of three children, she was intensely curious at an early age. At age seven, she showed a love for gadgets, disassembling alarm clocks in the attempt to determine how they worked.

Hopper shared her love of math with her mother, who studied geometry even when serious study of math was considered improper a woman. Hopper’s father, despite the amputation of both of his legs, encouraged all of his children that they could do anything as long as they put their mind to it. He inspired her to pursue higher education and not limit herself to the typical feminine roles of the time.

At age 16, Hopper applied to Vassar College. She failed the Latin exam and was told she had to wait a year. She then became a boarding student at Hartridge School in New Jersey, entering Vassar the following year. She graduated from Vassar in 1928 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics. At age 23, she received her master’s degree in mathematics from Yale University. One year later, Vassar hired her as a mathematics instr-uctor at a salary of $800 per year. Hopper taught at Vassar from 1931 until 1943. During that time, she earned a Ph.D. from Yale.

After the start of World War II, Hopper made a career- and life-changing decision, to serve her country in the Navy. The 105-pound, 34 year-old woman was considered underweight and over-age for military enlistment, but her position as a mathematics professor was declared crucial to the war effort. Hopper obtained a waiver for her weight, special government permission for her age, and a leave of absence from Vassar, and was sworn into the U.S. Naval Reserve in December 1943. She attended the Midshipman’s School for Women, graduating first in her class.

Hopper’s first assignment was at the Bureau of Ordinance Computation at Harvard University. There, she became one of the programmers of the Mark I, the world’s first large-scale digital computer. The computer was used to calculate aiming angles for naval guns in varying weather conditions. Because the work that the computer did was so important to the war effort, Hopper and her assistants monitored the computer system 24 hours a day. They spent countless hours transcribing and inputting codes for Mark I and its successors, Mark II and III. Hopper received the Naval Ordnance Development Award in 1946 for her work on the Mark series.

While building the Mark II, Hopper was credited with starting the term computer ''bug.'' While working on the Mark II, a moth flew in an open window and landed on one of Mark II’s relays, shutting down the whole system. When asked how to fix the computer, Hopper told her associates to ''debug'' the system. The term is still used today.

At age 40, Hopper was told she was too old to remain in active service. Hopper turned down the chance to go back and teach at Vassar. She stayed at Harvard as a civilian researcher in the Engin-eering Sciences and Applied Physics Department until 1949, when she joined Eckert-Mauchley Computer Corporation as a senior mathematician. After joining the company, it released the BINAC, or Binary Automatic Computer. The BINAC paved the way to the production of the first commercial computers, UNIVAC I and II. Programming the BINAC was difficult for Hopper until she taught herself how to add, subtract and multiply in octal, a number system that only uses digits 0 through 7. According to Brita-nnica Encyclopedia, Hopper often had trouble balancing her check-book because she would add and subtract in octal.

In 1950, Hopper developed the first compiler, A-0, which translated symbolic mathematical code into machine code. She suggested that UNIVAC could be programmed to recognize English commands. Even though her peers said it could never be done, Hopper developed the B-0 compiler, later know as FLOWMATIC, which was used for business tasks such as payroll calculation.

In 1959, the first specifications for the programming language COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) appeared. COBOL is still used in computers today. Members of Hopper’s staff helped to frame the basic language design using FLOWMATIC.

Hopper retired from the Naval Reserve at the rank of Commander at the end of 1966. In August of 1967, the Navy found itself unable to develop a working payroll plan after 823 attempts. Hopper was recalled from retirement for what was supposed to be a six-month assignment in order to help standardize the high-level naval computer languages. Her reinstatement made her the first Naval Reserve woman to return to active duty.

Hopper was promoted to Captain in 1973 by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, Jr. In 1983 Hopper was promoted to the rank of Commodore, equivalent to today’s rank of Rear Admiral (lower half). Two years later, she became one of the first women to be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.

In 1986, after 43 years in the Navy, Hopper retired on the deck of USS Constitution. On that day Hopper, then 80 years old, was the oldest person in the Navy standing on its oldest ship.

Hopper died January 1, 1992. She was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Hopper’s influence in the Navy, the military, and society at large continues to this day, and the Navy has honored her contributions and her service with the commissioning of the guided missile destroyer, USS Hopper (DDG 70), nicknamed ''Amazing Grace.''