Margaret Hamilton
Born 1936 · Age 89
American computer scientist and software engineer who led development of the on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo Guidance Computer; coined the term “software engineering”; founder of Higher Order Software and Hamilton Technologies; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
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Life & Career Timeline
Birth in Paoli, Indiana
Margaret Elaine Heafield was born in Paoli, Indiana to Kenneth and Ruth Heafield.
Graduated Hancock High School
Completed secondary education in Hancock, Michigan.
Began studies at University of Michigan
Started studying mathematics at the University of Michigan before transferring to Earlham College.
Taught high-school mathematics and French
Briefly worked as a high-school mathematics and French teacher (to support family while husband studied).
Earned BA from Earlham College and married James Hamilton
Graduated with a B.A. in mathematics (minor in philosophy) from Earlham College; married James Cox Hamilton on June 15, 1958.
Joined MIT meteorology (worked for Edward Norton Lorenz)
Accepted a temporary position at MIT developing software to predict the weather (programming on LGP-30 and PDP-1).
Project MAC/Weather prediction work
Worked on Project MAC / Marvin Minsky-related computing resources contributing to Lorenz's meteorology research (chaos theory foundations).
Joined SAGE project at MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Worked from 1961–1963 on the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air-defense project and wrote software for the prototype AN/FSQ-7 (XD-1) and satellite-tracking projects.
Moved to another project and trained replacement (Ellen Fetter)
Around summer 1961 she moved to a new project and hired/trained Ellen Fetter as her replacement at MIT.
Recognized for software reliability expertise at Lincoln Lab
Experience with SAGE strengthened her interest in software reliability and error-detection techniques; made her a candidate for Apollo software work.
Joined MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (Apollo project)
Learned of and joined the Apollo Guidance Computer effort at MIT Instrumentation Laboratory; became the first programmer hired for the Apollo project and the first woman programmer on Apollo.
Became Director of the Software Engineering Division (MIT Instrumentation Lab)
Led the Software Engineering Division that developed on-board in-flight software for the Apollo Command Module, Lunar Module, and later Skylab.
Divorce from James Cox Hamilton
Divorced first husband James Cox Hamilton (married 1958, divorced 1967).
Proposed protective software (inspired by daughter's simulator crash)
After her daughter accidentally caused a simulator crash while playing, Hamilton advocated adding software protections; these protections later proved critical (implemented prior to Apollo 8 incident).
Apollo 8 navigation incident (software protection vindicated)
During Apollo 8 (Dec 1968) an astronaut inadvertently invoked a problematic command; protective software Hamilton advocated allowed recovery and the mission continued successfully.
Iconic photo with Apollo code listings
A promotional Instrumentation Lab photographer took the now-famous photo of Hamilton standing beside stacks of printed Apollo software listings (1969).
Married Dan Lickly
Married Dan Lickly two years after her divorce (sources state 1969).
Apollo 11 landing — priority alarm recovery
During the Apollo 11 lunar descent the AGC raised executive-overflow alarms; Hamilton's error-detection/recovery and priority display design allowed the guidance software to keep landing-critical tasks and enabled 'Go' decision and successful landing.
Software used for subsequent Apollo missions and Skylab
The on-board flight software approach and error-recovery techniques were used for later Apollo landings and the Skylab program (early 1970s).
Published letter 'Computer Got Loaded' in Datamation
Published a letter/statement describing the Apollo 11 alarms and how the software handled the overload (Datamation, March 1, 1971 referenced).
Left MIT / Instrumentation Laboratory (mid-1970s)
Transitioned from MIT to the private sector in the mid-1970s to further develop software reliability ideas from Apollo experience.
Published 'Higher Order Software—A Methodology for Defining Software'
Co-authored the March 1976 IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering paper outlining HOS methodology (M. Hamilton & S. Zeldin).
Co-founded Higher Order Software (HOS)
Co-founded Higher Order Software with Saydean Zeldin to commercialize HOS methodology and a product called USE.IT for error prevention and fault tolerance.
Published 'The relationship between design and verification'
Published with Saydean Zeldin in Journal of Systems and Software on HOS design/verification concepts (1979).
Served as CEO of HOS through 1984
Hamilton was CEO of Higher Order Software until 1984 (led company development and product USE.IT).
Left Higher Order Software (HOS)
Departed HOS in 1985 after nearly a decade leading the company.
Received Augusta Ada Lovelace Award
Awarded the Augusta Ada Lovelace Award by the Association for Women in Computing (1986).
Founded Hamilton Technologies, Inc.
Founded Hamilton Technologies (March 1986) in Cambridge, MA to develop Universal Systems Language (USL) and the 001 Tool Suite based on 'development before the fact'.
Published 'Inside Development Before the Fact'
Authored an April 1994 cover story about Development Before the Fact (DBTF) in Electronic Design.
Published '001: A Full Life Cycle Systems Engineering and Software Development Environment'
Authored a June 1994 Electronic Design cover story on the 001 Tool Suite and lifecycle environment.
Received NASA Exceptional Space Act Award
NASA awarded Hamilton its Exceptional Space Act Award for scientific and technical contributions; award included $37,200 — the largest single amount NASA had awarded to an individual at that time.
Published DI-GNU Common Software Architecture Principles
Co-authored DI-GNU architecture principles (revised Dec 29, 2004) for defense contracts (Picatinny Arsenal projects).
Published papers on Universal Systems Language (USL)
Co-authored papers on USL and formal semantics for SysML at INCOSE and CSER (2007).
Published 'Universal Systems Language: Lessons Learned from Apollo'
Published an article in IEEE Computer (Dec 2008) linking USL lessons to Apollo experience.
Received Outstanding Alumni Award from Earlham College
Earlham College honored Hamilton with its Outstanding Alumni Award in recognition of her career achievements.
Apollo code listings added to GitHub / renewed public interest
MIT News noted the Apollo on-board flight software (listings) were added to GitHub (public archival & renewed attention to her work).
Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
President Barack Obama presented Hamilton with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work on Apollo software (November 22, 2016).
Documented publication record — >130 publications (approx.)
Hamilton has published more than 130 papers, proceedings and reports across many projects and programs (figure cited in biographical sources).
Featured in 'Women of NASA' LEGO set
The LEGO 'Women of NASA' set featuring Hamilton (with her Apollo code stack) went on sale in 2017 as a public tribute.
Credited with coining 'software engineering'
Publicly recognized for popularizing/coining the term 'software engineering' to legitimize software as an engineering discipline (term used during Apollo era but celebrated in later years).
Recognized in popular culture and media
Subject/inspiration for media portrayals and tributes (e.g., LEGO, Google tribute, cited as inspiration for fictional characters such as Margo Madison in 'For All Mankind').
Computer History Museum Fellow Award
Received the Computer History Museum Fellow Award honoring individuals whose computing ideas changed the world (award ceremony Apr 28, 2017).
Awarded honorary doctorate, Polytechnic University of Catalonia
Received an honorary doctorate degree from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in recognition of her contributions to software engineering.
Published 'What the Errors Tell Us' in IEEE Software
Authored a September 2018 IEEE Software article discussing how errors influenced her approach and the Universal Systems Language.
Google tribute (Ivanpah mirrors) and multiple honors
Google created a tribute image at Ivanpah Solar Power Facility; that year she also received The Washington Award, an honorary doctorate from Bard College, and the Intrepid Lifetime Achievement Award.
Inducted into National Aviation Hall of Fame
Honored with induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio for her contributions to aviation/space software.
Key Achievement Ages
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