March is women’s history month. Here at Simplicity, we are celebrating by highlighting some fascinating women who were trailblazers in technology!
The ENIAC Programmers
Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, Betty Jennings Bartik, Frances Snyder Holberton, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Frances Bilas Spence and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum were a group of six women who worked for the US army in 1945 to build the first all electronic computer, called the ENIAC! These programmers did not just write the code - they had to physically build and connect all of the cables to create the computer. After the war, many of them continued to work on the ENIAC while teaching the next generation of programmers.
The Queen of Software
Grace Hopper is not only a Navy veteran of World War II, but she also helped develop COBOL: the first coding language based on words instead of numbers. At the same time, she developed software to standardize the language across the entire Navy. Hopper also invented the popular term “debugging” and has been awarded many prestigious awards, such as the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. A US Navy Destroyer ship has even been named in her honor.
Leading the Way with VoIP
Marian Croak is a senior vice president at AT&T. She helped develop VoIP technology and guided AT&T from the 1980s seamlessly into the world of internet services. Croak also uses her knowledge of technology to do good in the world. After Hurricane Katrina, she invented the donation via text system to help those impacted by the natural disaster. Not only that, but Croak currently has over 175 patents for a wide array of technological inventions!
Many of the services Simplicity offers today would not have been possible without these women. On behalf of Simplicity, thank you to women in technology everywhere!
