484: Margaret Hamilton
NASA Computer Code Writer
Born: 17 August 1936, Paoli, Indiana, United States of America
Died: 30 September 1926
Margaret was also a systems engineer and business owner who published over 130 different papers in her lifetime.
She popularized the term software engineering.
Margaret began to seriously study math in college, beginning in 1955. She eventually graduated with a BA in mathematics with a minor in philosophy in 1958. After moving to Boston with her husband the following year, Margaret found herself working in the meteorology department at MIT. This would be her first foray into computer programming.
Beginning in 1961, Margaret moved to the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) project at MIT. SAGE was the United States' first ever air defense system.
Starting in 1965, Margaret switched to and eventually became Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory which worked to make onboard software for the NASA Apollo Program. In fact, she was the first programmer hired by MIT to work on the Apollo Program and was the first female programmer hired to work on the Apollo project at large.
Margaret continued to work within MIT and alongside NASA until 1976, when she started her own company, Higher Order Software. She would also later go on to create another company, Hamilton Technologies.
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2016. Her award citation read: “Hamilton defined new forms of software engineering and helped launch an industry that would forever change human history. Her software architecture led to giant leaps for humankind, writing the code that helped America set foot on the moon.”
In 2017, Margaret was honored alongside other notable women of NASA by the LEGO toy company.
In 2022, Margaret was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame.
Margaret had one daughter, and at the time of her death, two grandsons and four great-grandchildren.
Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked
Sources:
https://shop.lego.com/en-US/product/Women-of-NASA-21312
https://news.mit.edu/2026/margaret-hamilton-computing-pioneer-dies-1007
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/313109200/margaret-elaine-hamilton