Math Archives - Infinite Women

Velva Klaessy

In 1944, she joined the World War II cryptologic effort, remaining in the field long after the war.

Wilma Zimmerman Davis

With a degree in mathematics and a Navy correspondence course on cryptology Wilma Davis was hired to work in the Army’s Signal Intelligence Service in the late 1930s.

Mathematician and computer scientist focused on graph theory and combinatorial algorithms, and databases and data security. She published over 200 papers including significant articles on aspects of graph theory and algorithms such as the Train Marshalling Problem.

Dr Carol M Newton

Dr. Carol Newton developed the first computer program to calculate electron therapy treatments, the Univac I, C-10 Code in 1958 and was a founding fellow of the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering and a fellow in the American College of Medical Informatics.

Virginia Jenkins Riley

In the early 1960s, Riley was one of the designers and programmers of a general program written for the UNIVAC 490, the first computer designed specifically for real-time applications at NSA. In the late 1960s, she moved to the Cryptanalysis Department at the National Cryptologic School, where she developed a new course in Cryptanalytic Diagnostics.

Dr Sarah Botsai

Dr. Botsai spent twelve years in Operations before she was selected for a tour as the NSA representative in the White House Situation Room, the first NSA woman to hold this position. After her two-year tour she was asked to return as the Deputy Director of the White House Situation Room. She also attended the National War College, the first NSA woman to do so, graduating in 1977.

Vera Filby

Vera Ruth Filby served with the Women Accepted for Voluntary Exceptional Service (WAVES) and the Communications Supplementary Activity, the Navy’s cryptologic organization, during World War II.

Dr Julia Ward

As the founder of Central Reference, Dr. Julia Ward significantly affected the future of a key function across a wide variety of targets and problems at the NSA. Her pioneering efforts to build a library of classified and unclassified resources to aid analysis greatly advanced the American cryptologic effort.

Julia Wetzel

As the Soviet Union’s Communist regime collapsed Wetzel was Chief of a major operational analysis group at the NSA. She saw the Division through the critical time of the Agency’s restructuring to align with new world issues. She moved through several managerial positions in the 1990s including Commandant of the National Cryptologic School.