Our blog/article and Radio Show celebrates the life and work of Grace Brewster Murray Hopper, Pioneering Computer Scientist, Teacher, Mathematician, United States Rear Admiral, and Musician.
Many of the world’s authors, teachers, engineers, mathematicians, scientists, authors, inventors, medical doctors, and researchers have studied and played musical instruments since they were children. These eminent individuals have integrated music into their thinking process. Studying a musical instrument develops millions of new connections, synapses, between nerve cells in the brain.
Our article of the month is When A Country’s Wallet Is Empty… by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.
Radio Show Feature Question for May 2025:
How did Classical Music play a part of Grace Murray Hopper’s life as a pioneering computer scientist, mathematician, teacher, United States Navy Rear Admiral and musician and what musical instrument did she play?
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/one-minute-musical-radio-show/
Early Years:
Grace Brewster Murray was born on December 9, 1906 in New York City to Walter Murray, an insurance broker and, Mary Van Horne Murray, who loved mathematics “which she passed on to her daughter.” Grace was the oldest of three children.
She began studying the piano as a young child. She also enjoyed reading and was “fascinated by machines.” At seven years of age, “she took her alarm clock apart to find out how it worked. All the parts tumbled out. Unable to reassemble it, she took apart the other seven clocks she found in the house before her mother discovered what was happening. Her Mom asked her to stick to one clock!”
Grace Murray attended the Hartridge school in Plainfield, New Jersey and was an excellent student in math and science. “Her family spent summers near a lake. Grace’s canoe capsized. Her mother, who was watching from the shore, called out, “Remember your great-grandfather, the admiral!” This reminder gave Grace the strength to recover her canoe and return to shore.”
Grace “later stated that her great-grandfather, Alexander Wilson Russel, a U.S. Navy rear admiral inspired her admiration for the U.S. Navy.”
“But Hopper’s principal inspiration, according to her biographer, Charlene W. Billings (author of Grace Hopper, Navy Admiral and Computer Pioneer), was her father. When hardening of the arteries left him a double amputee, he told his children that, if he could walk with two wooden legs and two canes, they could do anything. The young Grace was imbued with this unquenchable let’s-get-on-with-it spirit.”
College and University: Grace Murray graduated Vassar in 1928, Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Physics. She earned her Master’s Degree in Mathematics in1930 at Yale University.
Gifted Teacher and Communicator:
In 1931at Vassar, she began teaching mathematics and in 1941 was promoted to associate professor. She taught there until 1943. “Her innovative and gregarious nature made her classes popular; in one course she invented an entire mythical country to literally “animate” a dry mechanical drawing class.”
Hopper said, “working with the youth is the most important job I’ve done. It’s also the most rewarding.” It was natural for her to “spend her adult life teaching others.”
Grace Hopper’s students and colleagues “described her as a passionate and inspiring teacher, a brilliant innovator, and a strong advocate for women in STEM fields”. She was “known for her ability to make complex topics accessible and engaging, even for those who weren’t necessarily computer science experts. She encouraged her students to take risks and push boundaries, and she was always available to support them.”
She was nicknamed “Amazing Grace” by her students and colleagues “because of her great ability to inspire others.”
Even though “she left her faculty position at Vassar to join the Navy, teaching remained an important part of her life.” Grace Hopper in 1959, “was a visiting and then adjunct lecturer at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania i. In the 1960s and 1970s, she taught and lectured at Penn, George Washington University, and for the U.S. Naval Reserve. Outside of academia, she organized myriad workshops and conferences to promote the understanding of computers and programming.” (president.Yale.edu/biography-Grace-Murray-Hopper)
Married: Grace Murray in 1930 married Vincent Foster Hopper, a professor at New York University. They were divorced in 1945. She retained his surname. (Wikipedia Grace Hopper)
Ph.D.: Grace Murray Hopper earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1934 at Yale “under the direction of Øystein Ore. Her dissertation, “New Types of Irreducibility Criteria”, was published that same year.” (Wikipedia Grace Hopper)
Word War 11: Grace during WW11 wanted to “join the Navy and was initially rejected due to being considered too old (34 years old) and underweight. She persisted and was eventually sworn into the Navy in December 1943. She went on to attend “the Navy’s Midshipman’s School in Northampton, Mass.”
As a new junior grade lieutenant, she entered the basement office in Cruft Laboratory at Harvard University relieved to have finally found her destination. “Commander Howard Aiken looked up at the slender young female officer.”
“Where the hell have you been?” he demanded.
“The lieutenant tried to explain how she had started out at Navy headquarters in Boston, then continued her search at various university buildings before arriving, hours late, at the laboratory. The commander brushed off her explanation.”
“I mean for the last two months!” he exclaimed.
“The lady’s reputation as an experienced and exceptionally bright mathematician had preceded her, and Aiken badly needed her skills. He gestured toward a glass-encased 51 -foot-long apparatus, which was clacking like a roomful of people knitting. It was the Mark I computer at labor, its 3,300 electrical relays opening and closing.” (MARK 1 an IBMAutomatic Sequence Controlled Calculator.)
“That’s a computing engine,” he said. “I would be delighted to have the coefficients for the interpolation of the arc tangent by next Thursday.” (Naval History, Vol. 6 Number 3: Captain Rosario M. Rausa, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired), Sep. 1992, Grace Murray Hopper, in profile
“Hopper was assigned to Commander Howard Aiken to “the Bureau of Ships Computation Project at Harvard University. There, she joined a team working on the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, better known as the MARK I, the first electromechanical computer in the United States. Under the guidance of Howard Aiken, who had developed the MARK I, Hopper and her colleagues worked on top-secret calculations essential to the war effort—computing rocket trajectories, creating range tables for new anti-aircraft guns, and calibrating minesweepers. One of the first three “coders” (now known as programmers), Hopper also wrote the 561-page user manual for the MARK I.” (president.Yale.edu/biography-Grace-Murray-Hopper)
“This was young Lieutenant Grace Murray Hopper’s introduction to the world of computers and the beginning of a “tour of duty” unparalleled in its impact on automatic data processing in the Navy. Throughout her long and immensely productive career, demand for her expertise—both in the sea service and the business world—never waned.” (Naval History, Vol. 6 Number 3: Captain Rosario M. Rausa, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired), Sep. 1992, Grace Murray Hopper, in profile)
She left active service in 1946, after “the Navy declined her request for a regular commission due to her age. She remained a naval reservist.” She continued working from 1946 to 1949 on MARK 11 and MARK 111 computers under Navy contracts. She left Harvard at the end of “her three-year research fellow” as “there were no permanent positions for women” at Harvard.
Grace Hopper in 1949, as a senior mathematician, joined Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in Philadelphia. (Acquired by Remington Rand and later Sperry Rand, under army contracts built the first electronic computer.)
Eckert-Mauchly in the early 1950s developed “the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC I), the first commercial electronic computer.” While working on the UNIVAC I and II, Grace Hopper “pioneered the idea of automatic programming and explored new ways to use the computer to code”. She developed in 1952, “the first compiler called A-0, which translated mathematical code into machine-readable code—an important step toward creating modern programming languages.” (president.Yale.edu/biography-Grace-Murray-Hopper)
She developed programs using “English words rather than symbols”. “User friendly languages.” (1953) Creating word-based languages, making “computers accessible to people without an engineering or math background.”
“By developing programs that used word commands rather than symbols, Hopper believed that more people would feel comfortable using computers, particularly for business applications such as payroll.” (president.Yale.edu/biography-Grace-Murray-Hopper)
Grace Hopper said during an interview in 1980, “What I was after in beginning English language [programming] was to bring another whole group of people able to use the computer easily…I kept calling for more user-friendly languages. Most of the stuff we get from academicians, computer science people, is in no way adapted to people.” (Transcript, Grace Hopper, Oral History Interview by Angeline Pantages, December 1980, 11. Computer History Museum.)
“In 1959, Hopper took part in the Conference on Data Systems Languages (CODASYL), the goal of which was to develop a common business language that could be used across industries and sectors. The finished product was COBOL, short for “common business-oriented language.” Hopper is widely recognized for her work designing COBOL, developing compilers for it, and encouraging its broad adoption. By the 1970s, COBOL was the “most extensively used computer language” in the world.” (president.Yale.edu/biography-Grace-Murray-Hopper)
“On 31 December 1966, Commander Grace Hopper was placed on the Navy’s retired list. Fiercely loyal to the Navy, she said, “It was the saddest day of my life.” It was a short-lived separation. In August 1967, at the age of 61, Hopper was summoned to temporary active duty, to assist in standardizing COBOL for the Navy and to persuade doubters that computers were the wave of the future. She was assigned to the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations (0P-90) as Director, Navy Programming Languages Group, Office of Information Systems Planning and Development, at the Pentagon. Her initial six-month tour was extended and she eventually received orders to remain on active duty indefinitely. After publishing Fundamentals of COBOL, Hopper found herself on the road promoting computers.” (Grace Murray Hopper, Naval History Magazine, Fall 1992, Volume 6 Number 3)
Public Relations & Recruiter: Rear Admiral Peter Cullins, the first commander of the Navy Automation Command said, “Grace Hopper was the best public relations person the Navy ever had. She went out and spread the word to professional groups, business organizations, high schools, colleges, and universities. She had a great ability to turn young people on to computers and to the Navy. I received hundreds of letters remarking how terrific her presentations were. One of her messages was ‘Don’t quit. Age doesn’t matter.”
Captain Lee Maice, also of NAVDAC, concurred. “Grace Hopper was also the best recruiter of technically oriented people the Navy had.” Young listeners reasoned that if Grace Hopper, with her focus on youth and her unreserved enthusiasm about computers, was in the Navy, then that was the place to be.”
Grace Hopper was “officially retired from Eckert-Mauchly in 1971. She stayed on the road, giving speeches, teaching, and spreading the word about the time-saving, efficiency-enhancing value of computers.”
She was promoted to captain in 1973, to commodore in 1983 (in The White House with President Ronald Reagan), and to rear admiral in November 1985. Upon achieving flag rank. Hopper notified friends to monitor her great-grandfather Russell’s grave for, “He may rise from the dead.”
She concluded most of her speeches with the same words,” remembered Admiral Cullins. “She would say, ‘I’ve received many honors, and I’m grateful for them. But I’ve already received the highest award I’ll ever receive—no matter how long I live, no matter how many different jobs I may have—and that has been the privilege and honor of serving very proudly in the United States Navy.”
Awards and Honors: “Rear Admiral Hopper was the recipient of more than forty honorary degrees, and many scholarships, professorships, awards, and conferences are named in her honor.”
* 1962: Elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
*1963: A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (, and * 1964: Received Achievement Awards from the Society of Women Engineers.
*1968: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
*1969: “Hopper was named the first computer science “Man of the Year” by the Data Processing Management Association.”
* “In 1970 she received the Harry M Goode Memorial Award, a medal and $2,000 awarded by the Computer Society:- For her pioneering work and leadership in the development of computer software, and for her impact and influence on the computing profession and her fellow colleagues, and for her pioneering work and leadership in the development of important concepts for mathematical and business compilers, and for her contributions to the development and acceptance of English-language, problem-oriented programming, and for her outstanding work and continued efforts in the education and training of men and women for careers in computer science and data processing.”
* “In 1972 she received Yale’s Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal awarded to outstanding alumni.”
* “In 1973, she became the first woman and the first American to become a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society.” Also, in 1973, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the Legion of Merit.”
* “In 1991, President George Bush awarded Hopper the National Medal of Technology “for her pioneering accomplishments in the development of computer programming languages that simplified computer technology and opened the door to a significantly larger universe of users;” she was the first woman to receive the nation’s highest technology award as an individual.”
*“Upon accepting the National Medal of Technology, Hopper said, “If you ask me what accomplishment I’m most proud of, the answer would be all the young people I’ve trained over the years; that’s more important than writing the first compiler.”
* “In 1996, the Navy commissioned the USS Hopper, a guided military destroyer.”
* “In 2016, Hopper posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in recognition of her “lifelong leadership role in the field of computer science.” (president.Yale.edu/biography-Grace-Murray-Hopper
Retirement:
At age 79, in 1985, Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, retired from the Navy. She was “the oldest serving officer in the U.S. armed forces.” She served over 42 years. That year she worked “as a senior consultant in public relations at the Digital Equipment Corporation, where she worked until her death in 1992.” (president.Yale.edu/biography-Grace-Murray-Hopper)
Grace Murray Hoppe was a trail blazing computer scientist, mathematician, teacher, United States Navy Rear Admiral, and a lifelong musician. On New Year’s Day 1992, Grace Murray Hopper died at her home in Arlington, Virginia. She was 85 years old. “She was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.”
WHEN A COUNTRY’S WALLET IS EMPTY… BY MADELINE FRANK
Great Britain in 1979 was on the brink of disaster, nearly bankrupt, and the populace was suffering from high unemployment, rising inflation, and crippling labor strikes. The citizenry had enough of the direction their nation was heading and they elected a new Prime Minister named Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher ran on a principled belief that private citizens are usually more efficient than bureaucracy. She also believed that the size of government was bloated and that the socialist-lite attitude toward business and regulation would cripple the United Kingdom into nothing-ness.
She immediately began privatizing all nationalized industries such as aerospace, telephone companies, utilities, shipping, and public housing. The mandate she was elected on was to reduce government power, and to promote the rights of individuals. Her public housing initiative encouraged tenants to purchase their homes at favorable terms if they had lived there at least 3 years. Home ownership rates rose from 55% in 1980 to 71% in 2003.
Labor unions in Great Britain were crippling industry with their intimidation tactics and strikes. While unions served a valuable purpose in the early part of the 20th century by setting standards for safety and a decent workplace, they had begun to crush industry with their desires to maintain control. Prime Minister Thatcher stood firm against the unions bringing the coal industries and the steel industries under control. Employers and their workforce had achieved the proper balance. It was no longer necessary for men to join the unions.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher believed in putting her “faith in freedom, free markets, limited government and a strong national defense.”
During Thatcher’s 3 terms (11 ½ years), she realized the transformation of her country. When she became Prime Minister, her country was on the brink of financial disaster, lawlessness, and violence. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said at the time “Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mist of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past.”
The parallels between Margret Thatcher and Donald Trump are striking. America had become a shadow of its once great self. Mired in issues of addiction, lawlessness, a 2-tiered justice system, and political corruption running rampant. Not to mention soaring inflation and high unemployment.
President Trump immediately went to work to solve America’s problems! He hired Elon Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency, (DOGE), “a White House team tasked with cutting federal spending”. As the CEO of Tesla, Space X, and other companies he has streamed line waste and brought efficiency to his companies.
Most Americans want their government to run like a business. If they can’t relate to running a business, perhaps they can relate to running their own household budget.
If you had household expenses that exceeded your income by $50,000 each year, would you take out a credit card to keep up your creature comforts?
No. You would hopefully tighten your budget and/or find a way to earn more money to prevent financial disaster.
Yet, this is what the federal government is facing ,the same challenge. It buries it’s head in the sand and kicks the budgetary can down the road.
Overall, a large cross section of people were polled and said they wanted the following:
- Run the government efficiently and spend our tax dollars responsibly.
- Provide the best service as possible.
- Keep government employees accountable to accomplish their work objectives.
When the Trump administration started scratching the surface of corruption and waste, organized protesters began chanting and destroying property in support of waste and abuse.
When Musk began Space X, the NASA Space program was going broke. Musk streamlined his company. His Space X company was paid “only” when they were successful. If his mission failed he received no money. Accountability is the name of the game!!
Musk also risked personal fortune to accomplish his vision. There were plenty of failures. Yet as of 2024, SpaceX logged 90% of all space flights in the US, NASA 5%, and all others 5%. Progress and innovation are messy and at times painful, but those things are necessary.
One of Elon Musk’s favorite interview questions that he asks all job applicants is, “Tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked on and how you solved them.” (New York Post August 14, 2024: Elon Musk’s Favorite Interview Question…..)
This weeds out “professional interviewers” from people who have actually developed the skillset to embrace adversity, change accordingly, and move forward.
The behavior of the Dems acting like spoiled disrespectful children at President Trump’s speech on March 4, 2025 to the Joint Sessions of Congress reminded me of the 1971 movie “A New Leaf”. The film was written, acted in, and directed by Elaine May, based on a story by Jack Ritchie called “Green Heart”. Walter Matthau is Henry Graham, a former wealthy playboy who has squandered his inheritance. His valet Harold, played by George Rose, suggests he look into marrying a wealthy woman to support him. Elaine May, is the wealthy Henrietta Lowell, a botany professor whose family has passed away. Her crooked lawyer, Andy McPherson played by Jack Weston had been bilking her through bloated salaries and outrageous expenses of the 17 household servants he has hired to work for her at her home.
When Henry and Henrietta arrived from the airport from their honeymoon, they waited for Henrietta’s chauffeur to pick them up. He never arrived and they took a taxi to Henrietta’s house. They arrive at the house and Henry finds the chauffeur drunk and amorous with another employee. He meets the other 16 employees having a fine time on Henrietta’s money. No one is working. Henry asks his valet, Harold, to find the household account books. Mrs. Taggert, the housekeeper, is hiding them under her mattress. Harold is asked by Henry to gather the employees and to keep Mrs. Graham away from the meeting with the employees. Henry begins with Mrs. Taggert, the house keeper. In the “house hold accounts” it says for 5 years, at $130 a day for food with no receipts, $6,000 a month for miscellaneous expenses, and $800 a week for your salary. In the past 5 years you have taken $35,000 a year plus $800 a week. You are fired. You are a thief based on the household accounts. It is 7 minutes past 9 o’clock. If you are not out by 10pm. I will call the police!”
Henry says to John, the chauffeur. “should we scrap our cars? It says 15 miles a day per car, 1 mile parked in the garage. (Chauffer receives $600 a week.) John do you have a suitcase?”
John says with a smile, “I have 5 suitcases and could always use another one.”
Henry says, “Pack all 5 and be out of the house in 45 minutes or I will shoot you on sight for trespassing. I am an excellent shot!”
John says, “I don’t get it!” Henry, “You are fired, you are a crook. You have 45 minutes to leave or I will shoot you. I’m an excellent shot! Get all your belongings and leave. The rest of you have 2 hours to get out!”
The 17 fired employees go over to Henrietta’s lawyer, Andy McPherson law office and complain to him. He says, “We have been together for a long time, had bad years, good years, laughed, cried, nothing we can do. You have had a good run!”
Dave Sheffield, “When conservatives do not get their way it’s time to roll up their sleeves and get to work.”
“One crucial mark of maturity is taking responsibility for oneself. On the other hand, immaturity involves blame-shifting and excuse -making.” (Joe Rigney, “Leadership And Emotional Sabotage”, 2024, Canon Press, p.20)
History repeats itself!
“The fall of ancient Rome offers striking parallels to modern economic and political challenges, particularly in terms of government spending and fiscal policy. Both ancient Rome and the U.S. have struggled with excessive government spending and mounting debt.” (Perplexty.ai)
We want elected officials to treasure and protect America not to pilfer its treasury!
Thomas Sowell, economist, said, “The real goal should be reduced government spending, rather than balanced budgets achieved by ever rising tax rates to cover ever rising spending.”
What 4 secrets have we learned throughout history?
1) Instead of electing entitled, spoiled politicians- elect officials that are disciplined, honest, respectful, trustworthy, accountable, builders, and developers of America, its citizens and its resources. These elected officials must love, cherish, protect, defend, and care about America’s future!
2) Vote for and elect officials that are builders and developers of people, who have a proven track record of success at their business, understand the value of every dollar they earn and spend, and are accountable for their actions.
3) If you don’t protect and defend your country, America, you will lose it! Build a strong military with limited government!
4) Vote for elect officials that will treasure and protect America, not pilfer its treasury!
Remember what President Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said:
President Ronald Reagan, “America has always stood for: strong defenses; low taxes and limited government; compassion and fair play, like that embodied in the fair housing bill; faith in our future; and an openness to the rest of the world, as demonstrated in our trade legislation.”
President Ronald Reagan, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher believed in putting her “faith in freedom, free markets, limited government, and a strong national defense.”
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, “Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mist of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past.” © 2025 Madeline Frank
If you need a speaker/ video speaker contact Madeline at: [email protected]
Dr. Madeline Frank’s book “Leadership on a Shoestring Budget: Timeless Principles for Everyday Use, helps businesses stay afloat in times of trouble. She calls her innovative observations, Tuning Up Your Business. For over 25 years she has helped countless people create their great image brand, and communication style that makes them irresistible. Click on the following Amazon.com link to order your copy of “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget”
“The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music” shares scientific evidence, medical evidence, test results, and true stories of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, and mathematicians who have studied and played musical instruments since they were children by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. Click below:
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“Madeline’s Midnight Melodies- Music From around the World”. This CD complements her books with a blend of dance music, gigues, tangos, ballet and favorites including “Danny Boy”, Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino Caro”, Debussy’s “Claire De Lune” and others. “Madeline’s Midnight Melodies” CD is now available for purchase by downloading a song, downloading the album click below:
“Musical Notes On Math” by Dr. Madeline Frank teaches your child fractions and decimals, the fun easy way, through the rhythm of music, Winner of the Parent To Parent Adding Wisdom Award is available in book form, newly updated as an e-book on Kindle, Nook, or iBook.:
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Wishing you and your family a happy Mother’s Day from Your Non-Invasive Medicine Music Expert, Madeline
For over 30 years, Dr. Madeline Frank has helped children and adults overcome problems through Classical music. Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an award-winning teacher, author, researcher, speaker, conductor, and concert artist. She has discovered a scientific link between studying a musical instrument and academic and societal success. Madeline Frank earned her Bachelor and Master’s degree from the Juilliard School of Music. Her education has included scholarships at the Juilliard School, Indiana University, and the University of Cincinnati and she has a violin performance diploma from the North Carolina School of the Arts. (C) 2025 Madeline Frank