Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering computer scientist whose software system was critical to the Apollo 11 lunar landing, died on 30 September 2026 at the age of 90.
Born in 1936 in Indiana, Hamilton studied mathematics at the University of Michigan and earned a bachelor's degree from Earlham College in 1958. She joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1959, where she led the Software Engineering Division during the early 1960s.
Under her direction, a team of engineers wrote and tested the flight‑control software that guided Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely to the Moon. The system introduced the term “software engineering” into the aerospace industry and incorporated priority‑driven code that shut down non‑essential processes when the onboard computer was overloaded.
In recognition of her groundbreaking work, former President Barack Obama awarded Hamilton the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. He described her as a symbol of the unsung women who helped launch humanity into space.
After her tenure at MIT, Hamilton founded several software firms, most notably Hamilton Technologies, which remains headquartered in Massachusetts. She left a lasting legacy that continues to inspire engineers and scholars worldwide.
She is survived by a daughter, a son‑in‑law, two grandsons and four great‑grandchildren. Her colleagues and former students remember her pioneering spirit and her dedication to advancing computer science.
