Rear Admiral Grace “Amazing Grace” Hopper passed away in 1992, but the WWII veteran, pioneering computer scientist and original COBOL programming language developer inspires women in computer science to this day, through the Grace Hopper Conference, Grace Hopper Open Source Day, and even a forthcoming documentary on her life.
(Related: Filmmakers crowdfund Grace Hopper documentary)
Hopper also had a sharp wit, as evidenced by her 1986 interview on “The Late Show with David Letterman.” In the video below, Hopper explains what a nanosecond is and jokes with Letterman about going through boot camp at age 37, working on the original computer, laughing with President Reagan, and why she is indeed the “queen of software.”
