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Jean E. Sammet
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Jean E. Sammet

Programming-language pioneer who helped design COBOL

23 March 1928 – 20 May 2017 United States Verified by our editors
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Lived
89 yrs
1928 – 2017
Works listed
2
Book, Programming language
Honours
3
Most recent 2009
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Jean Sammet was an American computer scientist who was a key member of the committee that designed COBOL and created FORMAC, an early language for symbolic mathematics. She became the first female president of the ACM and a leading historian of programming languages.

Biography

Education

Sammet studied mathematics at Mount Holyoke College and the University of Illinois. She worked at Sperry Gyroscope, where she programmed early UNIVAC computers.

COBOL

At Sylvania in 1959 she joined the short-range committee that designed COBOL, a language for business data processing with English-like statements. She wrote much of its specification with Grace Hopper’s ideas as a starting point.

FORMAC

At IBM from 1961 she led the development of FORMAC, the first widely used language for manipulating mathematical formulas symbolically.

History and service

Her book Programming Languages: History and Fundamentals (1969) was a landmark. In 1974 she became the first woman president of the Association for Computing Machinery. She died in 2017.

Timeline

  1. 1928

    Born in New York City, United States

  2. 1951

    Begins programming at Sperry

  3. 1959

    COBOL committee

  4. 1961

    Joins IBM

  5. 1962

    FORMAC

  6. 1969

    Programming Languages: History and Fundamentals

  7. 1974

    ACM president

  8. 2009

    Computer Pioneer Award

  9. 2017

    Died, aged 89

Notable works

  • 1969

    Programming Languages: History and Fundamentals Book

  • 1962

    FORMAC Programming language

Awards and honours

  • ACM Distinguished Service Award

    1985

  • Ada Lovelace Award

    1989

  • Computer Pioneer Award

    2009

Did you know?

  1. 1

    She organised the first ACM History of Programming Languages conference in 1978.

  2. 2

    She worked at IBM for 27 years.

  3. 3

    Her book catalogued more than 100 programming languages.

Connections

Related people

Also born on 23 March

Frequently asked

Who is Jean E. Sammet?

Jean Sammet was an American computer scientist who was a key member of the committee that designed COBOL and created FORMAC, an early language for symbolic mathematics. She became the first female president of the ACM and a leading historian of programming languages.

When did Jean E. Sammet die?

Jean E. Sammet died on 20 May 2017 at the age of 89.

Where is Jean E. Sammet from?

Jean E. Sammet was born in New York City, United States.

What is Jean E. Sammet known for?

Jean E. Sammet is best known for COBOL design committee; FORMAC; historian of programming languages; first female ACM president.

What awards has Jean E. Sammet received?

Notable honours include ACM Distinguished Service Award (1985), Ada Lovelace Award (1989), Computer Pioneer Award (2009).

References

  1. Jean E. Sammet — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  2. Jean E. Sammet (Q14232) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.

Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Jean E. Sammet”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more

External links

Wikipedia
Filed under COBOLIBMWomen in computing Computer ScientistProgrammer

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Cite this page

“Jean E. Sammet.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/jean-sammet

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