Jean E. Sammet

Jean E. Sammet (1928-2017) was an American computer scientist and software engineer. She played a crucial role in the development of the programming language COBOL and was heavily involved in its standardization. Sammet also made significant contributions to programming language theory and software engineering methodologies, leaving a lasting impact on the field.

Developed the FORMAC programming language. She was also the first to write extensively about the history and categorization of programming languages in 1969, and became the first female president of the Association for Computing Machinery in 1974.

Jean E. Sammet was an American computer scientist who developed the FORMAC programming language in 1962. She was also one of the developers of the influential COBOL programming language.

• She joined IBM in 1961 where she developed FORMAC, the first widely used computer language for symbolic manipulation of mathematical formulas.
• Sammet was employed by Sperry Gyroscope from 1955 to 1958 where she supervised the first scientific programming group.
• She was the first female president of the ACM, from 1974 to 1976.