The Harvard Gazette

Mark I

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The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences hosted an event celebrating women in computer science and a commemoration of the Grace Hopper’s birthday with a panel of female students including JN Fang '16, Ruth Fong '15, and Zehra Naz '15 (from left, photo 1), who discussed their earliest interest in and exposure to computer science with SEAS Professor Margo Seltzer ’83 (photo 2). Aspen Institute CEO and Harvard Overseer Walter Isaacson '74 (photo 3) was also on hand to discuss Hopper’s legacy.

She made her mark

Women in computer science discuss building on trailblazing career of Grace Hopper

Science|

DateDecember 8, 2014

In 1944, Lt. Grace Hopper was ordered to report to Harvard University to work on the Mark I, the behemoth digital computer that had been conceived by Harvard's Howard Aiken in 1937. Standing next to a section of the Mark I are Cmdr.

Grace Hopper, computing pioneer

While at Harvard, she deftly programmed Mark I, proving its versatility, author Walter Isaacson recounts

Science|

DateDecember 3, 2014June 15, 2018

Steve Ballmer '77 (photo 1), together with President Drew Faust (photo 2), and SEAS Dean Cherry Murray, announced that the University will increase its computer science faculty by half. The increase is the result of financial backing by Ballmer. “In my opinion, leadership in computer science is fundamental to Harvard remaining the leading institution in education," Ballmer said during a press conference today. Ballmer attended David Malan's CS50 class at Sanders Theatre on Wednesday (photo 3), where he talked with students, later taking selfies from the stage.

Major boost for computer science

Faculty to increase 50 percent with support from Ballmer

Science|

DateNovember 13, 2014

"We’re now in a phase in which the connection of creativity to technology is going to drive innovation," said Walter Isaacson ’74, a Harvard Overseer, biographer, and CEO of the Aspen Institute. "I do believe that it’s important for people to have an appreciation for the arts and humanities."

Ghosts in the machines

The history of the Digital Revolution touches our hearts and heads, Isaacson says

Science|

DateOctober 1, 2014

An enthusiastic crowd jammed the Science Center hallway around the downsized Mark I — about half of the original is on display — during a ceremony launching the new, refurbished exhibit.

Down to the details, a giant in computing history

Harvard Mark I exhibit gets an upgrade

Science|

DateApril 7, 2014April 15, 2019

Bill Gates as pictured in his freshman yearbook. Gates attended Harvard from 1973 to 1975.

Dawn of a revolution

When Bill Gates was at Harvard, he wrote software code that helped to launch the personal computer era

Science|

DateSeptember 20, 2013

First Programmable Computer

Science|

DateOctober 12, 2011February 13, 2018

The Harvard of the dim past was small, insular, and guardedly parochial. Now it is a university of the world. Some historians say Harvard finally assumed that role in 1936, when it decided to celebrate its 300th birthday on a bright stage (seen here) presented to the world. Everything about the 1936 celebration was grand and represented “a seismic shift in institutional weight and presence,” wrote authors Morton and Phyllis Keller in “Making Harvard Modern” (2001).

Harvard at 375

Celebrating momentum in sciences, public service, diversity, arts

Campus|

DateMay 25, 2011March 5, 2019

Imaging technician Lily Brooks breathes new life into a Theodore Roosevelt manuscript inside Widener Library's digital lab.

Digital drive

Technological breakthroughs are changing scholarship all across campus

Science|

DateDecember 16, 2010July 18, 2019