Awards

Many awards and honors have been given to Grace Hopper. This page describes a few of the most notable awards:

• In 1969, Hopper was awarded the first “Computer Sciences Man of the Year” award from the Data Processing Management Association for her outstanding work on the Harvard Mark I and II.

• Named after Hopper, the annual Grace Murray Hopper Award for Outstanding Young Computer Professionals was established in 1971 by the Association for Computing Machinery. It is awarded to the most outstanding young computer professional of the year, and selected on the basis of a single recent major technical or service contribution. The prize that accompanies this award is $35,000.

• In 1973 Grace Hopper became the first person from the United States and the first woman of any nationality to be made a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society. From time to time, the British Computer Society considers the award of a Distinguished Fellowship to members of the computing profession who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of computing.

• When Grace Hopper retired in 1986, she received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. The Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Army that is awarded to any person who, has distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government while serving in any capacity with the United States military.

• Grace Hopper was awarded with the IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award in 1988. This award is a Technical Field Award given each year by the IEEE to an individual or team of two people who have made outstanding contributions to information processing systems in relation to computer science.

National Medal of Technology and Innovation

• In 1991, Grace Hopper received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. The NMTI is the nation's highest honor for technological achievement, bestowed by the president of the United States on America's leading innovators.

• In 1996, the USS Hopper was launched. Nicknamed "Amazing Grace", it is on a very short list of U.S. military vessels named after women. The USS Hopper is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy.

• Also in 1996, the Naval Academy broke ground on Hopper Hall, which houses the academy's Center for Cyber Studies. 

• The Gracies, the Government Technology Leadership Awards, which seek to encourage innovation, were named in Grace Hopper’s honor in 2001.

• In 2009 the Office of Naval Intelligence created the Grace Hopper Information Services Center.

• Hopper was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with the comparable Congressional Gold Medal—the highest civilian award of the United States.

Presidential Medal of Freedom