Margaret Hamilton – who wrote the code for the onboard flight software of the Apollo Program – has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Many people associate Margaret Hamilton with the Apollo space program, where, as an early software developer, she developed the onboard flight software that eventually placed humankind on the moon.
However, her efforts extend well beyond that; having published over 130 papers, proceedings, and reports and co-founding Hamilton Technologies Inc, Hamilton is rightly one of the most celebrated women in tech.
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Now Hamilton has received her nation’s highest honour; the US Presidential Medal of Freedom. The award was issued by incumbent President Barack Obama, who cited that Hamilton represents the “generation of unsung women who helped send humankind into space.”
Philanthropic powerhouse couple Bill and Melinda Gates also received the award, in addition to Ellen DeGeneres, Michael Jordan, Bruce Springsteen, and Robert DeNiro.
Receiving the US Presidential Medal of Freedom is another feather in Hamilton’s cap; in 2003, she was awarded for her work and innovation in Apollo software development by NASA in 2003.
Hamilton has further credited with being one of the first proponents of “œsoftware engineering“ ““ a term which was ridiculed at the time as it was seen to have fallen short of both “˜true‘ engineering and hard science.
We thank our lucky stars we had Hamilton to further the discipline, as without her we might not be amidst the technology we are today; Hamilton assisted in developing the core principles in computer programming with colleagues who were, at the time, developing the world‘s first portable computer.
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Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
