The acm piece recounts the circuitous path she was forced to take to rise in computer science and is well worth reading. She was active in helping start the annals of the history of computing in the late 1970s and among the first group of acm fellows elected in 1994. Presgr 1with the turn of a page, or a change in orientation, the object in ones hands absolutely not a book morphs into the open mouth of a monster, a piano with sheet music, a tennis court, a laptop computer, the inside of a fridge, and a pair of clapping hands. As it is for many women today, sammet s path into computer programming was not a direct course. A focus on women who inspire us at next century women in. Computer pioneer jean sammet 48 has died mount holyoke college. She received a bachelors degree in mathematics from mount holyoke college in 1948, and a masters degree in that discipline from the university of illinois at.
Jean sammet was born in new york city on march 23, 1928, to ruth and harry sammet, who were both attorneys. Sammet is a retired computer scientist and programmer who is bestknown for her work on formac, the first widely used general language and system for manipulating nonnumeric algebraic expressions. In 1961, ibm hired mathematician jean sammet, who, together with grace hopper, was part of a group developed by cobol. Sammet, an american computer scientist who developed the formac programming language and who served as the first female president of acm, passed away may 21 at the age of 89. Sammet was born on 23 march 1928, in new york city to lawyer parents harry and ruth sammet. Jean sammet, who brought computing into the business mainstream, at the university of maryland in 1979 to deliver a lecture. A second purpose of the book is to provide specific basic information on all. Sammet was born on march 23, 1928, in new york city.
I thought of a computer as some obscene piece of hardware that i wanted nothing to do with, ms. Sammet 1928 is a retired programmer who is known for working on formac. Women in computing literature and digital diversity. Sammet tried programming calculations onto cardboard punched cards, which. Mar 19, 20 born in new york city in 1928, jean sammet was an early american computer scientist. Sammet march 23, 1928 may 20, 2017 was an american computer scientist who developed the formac programming language in 1962. Sammet attended mount holyoke college and the university of illinois, where she launched a teaching career. As jean sammet has documented in her article farewell to grace hopper end of an era. 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. Women have played an important role in both developing computer sciences foundations as well as furthering its study. In 1965, she became programming language technology manager in the ibm systems development division.
She created formac, the first widely used computer language for symbolic manipulation of mathematical formulas. From the very early childhood, she showed her interests for mathematics and spent hours reading and solving mathematical calculations. With a sunday birthday, jean is a remarkable person. Ten minutes with jean sammet 48 alumnae association.
Sammet courtesy of adobe stock computer programming is now considered to be a maledominated field. Both her parents, harry and ruth sammet, were lawyers. Grace brewster murray hopper nee murray december 9, 1906 january 1, 1992 was an american computer scientist and united states navy rear admiral. Computer pioneer jean sammet 48 has died mount holyoke. May 25, 2017 jean sammet was born in new york city on march 23, 1928, to ruth and harry sammet, who were both attorneys. Sammet was a graduate student in math when she first encountered a computer in 1949 at the univ. Jean sammet 1928 2017 jean sammet for a woman, gaining employment in mathematics and programming was challenging and jean sammet faced such setbacks in the 1950s. A ny times obituary reports that early software engineer and codesigner of cobol jean sammet died on may 20 in maryland at age 89. Trained in math, she moved into industry in 1961, developing the language formac at ibm. In 1969, jean sammet was a programming language technology manager for the federal systems division of ibm corporation.
Bere gurasoak, harry eta ruth sammet, abokatuak ziren. Jean sammet 48, one of the most important early pioneers in computer science. A second purpose of the book is to provide specific basic information on all the significant, and most of the minor, higher level languages developed in the united states. Sammet born 1928 is an american computer scientist who developed the formac programming language in 1962.
In this first newsletter we discuss women who inspire us. Search the worlds most comprehensive index of fulltext books. Sammet was born on march 23, 1928 in new york city. The book brings together in one place, and in a consistent fashion, fundamental information. The land of painted caves, the sixth and supposedly final book of her multimillionselling series, comes out in march. Mhn content environmental translated content comics. Jean e sammet was born on march 23rd, 1928, in new york. Jean sammet was born in new york city on march 23, 1928, to ruth and. She served as president 19741976 and vice president 19721974 of the organization, and was involved in a number of special interest groups, committees, and conferences associated with. Jean sammet, an early software engineer and a designer of cobol, a programming language that brought computing into the business mainstream, died may 20 in maryland. Jean sammet 1928 2017 was one of six people who designed the cobol computer language. She was also one of the developers of the influential cobol programming language she received her b.
Continue reading the main story her initial aversion was not unusual among the math purists of the time, long before computer science emerged as an academic discipline. Jean sammet, codesigner of a pioneering computer language. Jean e sammet march 23, 1928 may 21, 2017 jean sammet was born in new york in 1928. Sammet supervised the first scientific programming group for sperry gyroscope co. Sammet, the american computer scientist who developed the formac programming language and was the first woman to serve as president of acm, passed away may 21 at the age of 89. However, in recent times womens role in computing has been seemingly forgotten, and barriers to their participation in the subject have arose. New york times www site, viewed june 5, 2017 in obituary published june 4. Jean sammet has also been the recipient of two additional awards.
The collection contains council and executive committee agendas, minutes, and attachments 19741982, correspondence 19691982, and personnel lists 19741983, personal correspondence, and material from a programming course taught by mccracken. Jeans book on programming languages in 1969 was used by many and helped promote that topic as a strong part of computer science. Sammet 48 majored in mathematics at mount holyoke and was a pioneer in developing and researching programming languages. Programming language design and philosophy engineering 855. Jun 03, 2017 jean sammet, an early software engineer and a designer of cobol, a programming language that brought computing into the business mainstream, died may 20 in maryland. In 1962, she created formac formula manipulation compiler, the first computer programming language that was widely used. Her deep interest in mathematics began when she was 7 years old, but she was unable to attend bronx science high school because it did not admit girls. Dec 05, 2018 jean sammet was the first female president of the association for computing machinery and her book programming languages.
She earned her phd in computer science, in 1968 at stanford. Jean sammet was born in new york, new york, in 1928. Sammet 1928 2017 1 points by sohkamyung on may 29, 2017 hide past web favorite 12 comments sohkamyung on may 29, 2017. Euren alabaren nahia bronx high school of sciencen ikastea zen, hiriko eskola ospetsuenetarikoan, alegia, baina ez zuten onartu emakumea izateagatik. Gillian jacobs interviews computer programmer jean e. However, early in the history of computers, there were several women involved in developing the original languages. Jean sammet was the first female president of the association for computing machinery and her book programming languages. Fortran was developed by ibm in the 50s, mainly for mathematical computation and scientific computing. Sammet had a strong interest in mathematics but was unable to attend the bronx high school of science because it did not accept girls. Jean and her sister helen were born to harry and ruth sammet who were both lawyers. Overview collection consists of files daniel mccracken created during his professional involvement with acm, as well as his personal papers. Sammet was born in new york city on march 23, 1928. Kotakuinaction is the main hub for gamergate on reddit and welcomes discussion of community, industry and media issues in gaming and broader nerd. Michael mcclures 2person play the beard was produced in sf.
In 1962, she developed the formac language for programming and also worked with five other programmers, including grace hopper, to design and write the cobol programming language, which became the official language of the u. Auel may not be done with earths children, after all. Sammet supervised the first scientific programming. Sammet learned to code, steve jobs was still in diapers geekintraining gillian jacobs gets life lessons from one of the worlds oldest female programmers. Jean e sammet the primary purpose of this book is to serve as a reference for an overall view of higher level languages. The primary purpose of this book is to serve as a reference for an overall view of higher level languages. Jean bodin has 30 books on goodreads with 603 ratings. Jean sammet 1928 2017pioneer programmer jean sammet was an inventor of languages. Her book on programming languages, programming languages. March 23, 1928 computer pioneer jean sammet born jean sammet, an early pioneer of computing, is born in new york. May 24, 2017 jean pointed out that grace was not even on the committee. Feb 17, 2016 every year next century corporation runs a day to promote women in computing that is focused on girls aged 814 years old. The book brings together in one place, and in a consistent fashion, fundamental information on programming languages, including history, general characteristics, similarities, and differences. From 1955 to 1958, she worked for sperry gyroscope where she ran the first group of scientific programmers.
Seven astounding women who helped shape todays technology. But jean was a legend on her own and deserves widespread recognition maybe a us postage stamp with her on it. Sammet, an american computer scientist who served as the first female president of acm, passed away on may 21 at the age of 89. Sammet was active in computer professional societies, particularly the association for computing machinery acm. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. History and fundamentals automatic computation jun 1, 1969. She also went further to get a ba in mathematics from mount holyoke college, which she earned in 1948, and an ma in mathematics from the university of illinois at urbanachampaign, earned in 1949. Jean excelled in maths, starting in the first grade, and chose to attend college at. Auels internationally bestselling earths children books. Jean and helen attended public elementary schools in manhattan.
Born in new york city in 1928, jean sammet was an early american computer scientist. Auel may add book 7 to earths children series sfgate. Jean sammet, an early pioneer of computing, is born in new york. Hortaz, julia richman high school ikastetxean eman zuen izena. Born in 1936 in chicago as jean marie untinen, she grew up there and moved to oregon as a young wife. Jean excelled in math starting in the first grade and chose to attend college at mount holyoke because it had an excellent mathematics department. Sammet served as programming technology planning manager for ibms federal systems division from 1968 to 1974, and was named software technology manager in 1979. Jun 04, 2017 jean sammet, who brought computing into the business mainstream, at the university of maryland in 1979 to deliver a lecture. The women who led the way in computer programming rte. As it is for many women today, sammets path into computer programming was not a direct course.
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