Editing Grace Hopper (section)

== Post-retirement ==
After her retirement from the Navy, Hopper was hired as a senior consultant to [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC). Hopper was initially offered a position by Rita Yavinsky, but she insisted on going through the typical formal interview process. She then proposed in jest that she would be willing to accept a position which made her available on alternating Thursdays, exhibited at their museum of computing as a pioneer, in exchange for a generous salary and unlimited expense account. Instead, she was hired as a full-time Principal Corporate Consulting Engineer, a tech-track SVP-equivalent. In this position, Hopper represented the company at industry forums, serving on various industry committees, along with other obligations.<ref name="williams">{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Kathleen |year=2004 |title=Grace Hopper: Admiral of the Cyber Sea |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KKmiw-_2gYIC&q=%22Grace+Hooper%22+and+military+ranks&pg=PR9 |location=Annapolis, MD |publisher=Naval Institute Press |language=en-US |isbn=978-1-61251-265-5}}</ref> She retained that position until her death at age 85 in 1992.

At DEC Hopper served primarily as a goodwill ambassador. She lectured widely about the early days of computing, her career, and on efforts that computer vendors could take to make life easier for their users. She visited most of Digital's engineering facilities, where she generally received a standing ovation at the conclusion of her remarks. Although no longer a serving officer, she always wore her Navy full dress uniform to these lectures contrary to U.S. Department of Defense policy.<ref name="32CFR53.2">{{cite web |title=32 CFR § 53.2 – Policy. |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/32/53.2 |website=Legal Information Institute |publisher=Cornell University |access-date=November 26, 2019}}</ref> In 2016 Hopper received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in recognition of her remarkable contributions to the field of computer science.

"The most important thing I've accomplished, other than building the compiler", she said, "is training young people. They come to me, you know, and say, 'Do you think we can do this?' I say, 'Try it.' And I back 'em up. They need that. I keep track of them as they get older and I stir 'em up at intervals so they don't forget to take chances."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Lynn |year=2012 |title=Particular Passions: Grace Murray Hopper |edition=1st |series=Women of Wisdom Series |location=New York |publisher=Lynn Gilbert Inc. |isbn=978-1-61979-403-0}}</ref>