Marie Meyer was a language scholar from Illinois with a Master’s Degree in Latin as well as knowledge of Greek German and Sanskrit hired as a cryptographer by the Signal Security Agency in 1943. She became the first person to receive NSA’s Meritorious Civilian Service Award.
She served as a Yeoman (F) in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force during the World War I era. At the beginning of January 1919, while assigned to the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, she was promoted from Yeoman Second Class to Yeoman First Class. After leaving active duty in 1919 she was employed by the Navy Department, later shifting to the U.S. Marine Corps, and worked for the Marines until retiring from U.S. Government service in the later 1940s or early 1950s.
She became the Navy’s first female line officer on 3 August 1942. Commissioned a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve, she simultaneously undertook the demanding task of Director of the Navy’s newly-established Women’s Reserve. In November 1943, following the passage of new legislation by the Congress, she was promoted to the rank of Captain.
In January 1911, she became the second Superintendent of the Nurse Corps. For her achievements in leading the Corps through the First World War, Chief Nurse Higbee was awarded the Navy Cross, the first woman to receive that medal.
Legendary oceanographer Commander Mary Sears was a member of nine scientific and honorary societies and was a longtime member of the WHOI governing board. Throughout her career, she provided leadership across many oceanographic disciplines and mentored generations of young scientists.
Mary Budenbach, a graduate of Smith College and known to all as “Polly,” joined the Navy’s cryptologic organization, OP-20-G, in 1943. Trained as a cryptanalyst, she worked against Japanese naval ciphers during World War II.
In 1908, she joined the newly-established U.S. Navy Nurse Corps as one of its first twenty members. She was promoted to Chief Nurse in 1911. In 1919, she became the first Navy women to serve at sea.
Chinese American WII military pilot
The first Latina U.S. military pilot
Brown earned her pilot license in 1938, her commercial license in 1939 and earned her Master Mechanic Certificate in 1935.