# NSA  Biographies

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- James W. Pryde About James W. Pryde, a prominent advocate for African-Americans in NSA and Hall of Honor inductee.
- Ms. Eunice Russell Willson Rice Eunice Russell Willson Rice was a pioneering US Navy cryptologist who successfully broke Italian and
- Mr. Youn P. (YP) Kim YP Kim delivered expert crypto-linguistic service in Japanese and Korean during World War II, the
- Richard “Dickie” George Dickie George innovated mathematics theory and applications, affecting both the NSA and the nation
- Robert Orestes Ferner Robert Ferner’s contemporaries regarded him as among the very best senior cryptanalysts of the 1930s
- Jack C. Mortick Jack Mortick was preeminent in crypto-mathematics for his 41-year career in practical applications
- Joseph E. Gilligan, Jr. Joseph Gilligan was a pioneer in signals intelligence collection and exploitation capabilities, and
- Clifford Cocks, James Ellis, and Malcolm Williamson The collaborative work of Clifford Cocks, James Ellis, and Malcolm Williamson at GCHQ resulted in
- Lester K. Myers About Lester K. Myers, former NSA Senior Language Analyst, mentor, and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.
- Dr. Whitfield Diffie About Dr. Whitfield Diffie, computer security pioneer and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.
- Barbara A. McNamara About Barbara A. McNamara, former NSA Executive Assistant to the Director, former NSA representative to the Department of Defense, former Deputy Director NSA, and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.
- Dr. David Kahn About Dr. David Kahn, Journalist, Author, former NSA Scholar-in-Residence, and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.
- George R. Cotter About George R. Cotter, former NSA Chief of Staff, NSA Chief Scientist, and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.
- Minnie McNeal Kenny The NSA career of Minnie McNeal Kenny, Hall of Honor and African American Honoree.
- Edward M. Drake Edward M. Drake was the principal architect of Canadian SIGINT in war and peacetime. His wartime leadership was a vital factor in victory over the Axis in World War II. As director of Canada's first permanent cryptologic agency, he spearheaded crucial intelligence programs against Soviet threats.
- Chief Harry Kidder, USN Chief Radioman Harry Kidder, USN – In the 1920s, he recognized the importance of intelligence about Japan and conducted intercept as a voluntary extra duty. His efforts helped convince senior Navy officers to establish intercept sites around the Pacific. Kidder designed and taught a course on intercept and traffic analysis for select groups of radiomen. They became the nucleus of Navy intercept in World War II.
- Col Alva Bryan Lasswell, USMC Col. Alva Bryan Lasswell, USMC – While assigned at Station HYPO, Hawaii, through World War II, he decrypted and translated Japanese fleet messages. His work had a significant impact on U.S. Navy decisions in the Battle of Coral Sea and the stunning U.S. victory at Midway Island, a turning point in the war.
- Lt. Gen. Kenneth A. Minihan, USAF Lt. Gen. Kenneth A. Minihan, USAF – As Director, NSA / Chief, CSS from 1996 to 1999, he conceived of and drove two of NSA’s  most momentous transformations, moves far ahead of their times. Under his slogan “One team, One mission,” real-time collaboration developed between missions that had previously interacted only episodically.
- Richard L. “Dick” Bernard Richard L. “Dick” Bernard, an electrical engineer, joined NSA in 1953 to work on ABNER, one of NSA’s first computers. He soon was in charge of a groundbreaking team doing research and development (R&D) on a new special purpose computer. In 1956, as chief of three teams maintaining large special-purpose computers, he planned and supervised the movement of these systems from the D.C. area to Fort Meade, Maryland.
- Seymour R. Cray Seymour R. Cray had a profound effect on NSA’s mission from the 1950s to the 1990s. His work was crucial to NSA in technical aspects of the Cold War.