Photo Credit: prezi.com

An early woman in tech, Dr. Hopper was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer. She was the first female to graduate the Ph.D. program at Yale with a focus in mathematics. She was also the first woman to reach the rank of Admiral in the United States Navy. Her list of accomplishments goes on, including developing the Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) and popularizing the term “bug” for a glitch.

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Hopper is named for her. At the age of 79, Hopper retired as the oldest active-duty commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. She continued with public speaking after her military retirement and was quoted as saying that training young people and inspiring them to take chances was one of the most important things she accomplished. The U.S. Naval Academy plans to name its future cyber building after her.

These are just a few of the current and past women in tech who have made immeasurable contributions to global technology, often against the odds. Their contributions to technology are huge, as are their contributions in laying a foundation for the proliferation of women in technology that is only starting to come to pass.

For more women in tech, check out the STEM Jobs profile of Jordan Keller.