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Margaret Hamilton
1936–Present · Director of Apollo Flight Computer Software, MIT
She wrote the flight software for Apollo 11. When she insisted on adding error-handling code, NASA told her not to bother — astronauts wouldn't make mistakes. Three minutes before the lunar landing, the computer overloaded. Her "unnecessary" code saved the mission, the crew, and the entire space program. She coined the term "software engineering" when nobody took software seriously. A Grithosian does the right thing even when everyone above them says it's a waste of time.