Although computers as we know them today didn't exist in Ada Lovelace's time, she is considered the world's first computer programmer. Lovelace was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her notes on the engine include what is recognized as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine, and she is often regarded as the first to recognize that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, capable of expressing entities and manipulating symbols.
Lovelace was born in 1815, the daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron and his wife Annabella. Despite her father's wishes, Lovelace's mother insisted on a mathematical and scientific education for her daughter, recognizing her aptitude for the subjects. Lovelace began her studies of mathematics at the age of 12 and later worked with leading mathematicians of her time, including Augustus De Morgan and Duncan Gregory.
Despite her many accomplishments, Lovelace's contributions to computer science were not recognized during her lifetime. In fact, her work was almost entirely forgotten in the century following her death in 1852. It was not until the 1950s, when Babbage's plans for the Analytical Engine were re-evaluated and Lovelace's notes were rediscovered, that her significance as a computing pioneer was finally acknowledged.
Grace Hopper was an American computer scientist and naval officer. One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, she was a pioneer of computer programming who invented one of the first linkers. Hopper was the first to devise the concept of machine-independent programming languages, and the FLOW-MATIC programming language she created using this concept was later extended to create COBOL, an early high-level programming language still in use today.
Hopper was born in 1906 and earned a PhD in mathematics from Yale University in 1934. She joined the United States Navy Reserve in 1943 and was assigned to the Bureau of Ordnance Computation Project at Harvard University, where she became a programmer on the Harvard Mark I computer. After the war, Hopper remained at Harvard as a research fellow and became an associate professor of mathematics.
Hopper's contributions to computer programming were not always welcomed by her contemporaries. When she proposed the idea of a machine-independent programming language, many of her colleagues were skeptical. However, Hopper persisted and her ideas ultimately revolutionized the field of computer programming. She received numerous awards and honors for her work, including the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor bestowed on America's leading innovators.
Radia Perlman is an American computer scientist known for her pioneering contributions to the internet and computer networking. She is best known for inventing the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), a network protocol that makes it possible for data to be transmitted over a network even if some parts of the network fail. Perlman's work has been critical to the development of the internet and has had a profound impact on the way that data is transmitted over computer networks.
Perlman was born in 1951 and grew up in New York City. She received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from MIT in 1973 and went on to work as a software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation. It was there that she developed STP, which has since become a fundamental technology for computer networks around the world.
Despite her many contributions to the field of computer networking, Perlman has often been overlooked and underappreciated. She has said that she is often the only woman in the room at technology conferences and that her contributions are frequently overlooked or attributed to men. Nevertheless, Perlman has continued to make important contributions to the field of computer networking and has been recognized with numerous awards and honors for her work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from USENIX, the annual technical conference for the UNIX and Linux community.
Katherine Johnson is an American mathematician who made significant contributions to the United States' aeronautics and space programs. Johnson's work was critical to the success of many of NASA's early missions, including the first manned spaceflight, the Apollo missions to the Moon, and the Space Shuttle program. Johnson was one of a group of African-American women mathematicians at NASA who were known as 'computers' and were responsible for performing the complex calculations necessary for space missions.
Johnson was born in 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. She grew up in a family that valued education and showed an early aptitude for mathematics. Johnson attended West Virginia State University, where she earned a degree in mathematics and French. After graduation, she began working as a teacher, but her true passion was always mathematics.
In 1953, Johnson was hired by NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), as a research mathematician. She was one of only a few women, and the only African-American woman, in the organization. Johnson's work at NACA and later NASA was critical to the success of many of the agency's missions. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, in 2015.
Shirley Ann Jackson is an American physicist and engineer who is known for her groundbreaking work in condensed matter physics and for her contributions to the development of policies and practices that have advanced diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Jackson is the first African-American woman to earn a PhD from MIT and the first African-American woman to chair the board of directors of the National Academy of Engineering.
Jackson was born in 1946 in Washington, DC. She grew up in a family that valued education and was encouraged to pursue her interests in science and mathematics. Jackson attended MIT, where she earned a bachelor's degree in physics in 1968 and a PhD in theoretical physics in 1973. She was the first African-American woman to earn a PhD from MIT and the first to hold a faculty position at the university.
After completing her PhD, Jackson began a career in government and academia, holding positions at the National Science Foundation, the Rutgers University, and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In 1995, she became the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she served for 21 years. Under her leadership, Rensselaer became one of the top research universities in the country, with a focus on interdisciplinary research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
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