.:I 

-. ~e'j>artment of Mathematics REF ID:A66508 ""~ MADN-A e 

UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY 

WEST POINT, NEW YORK 

Colonel William F. Friedman 

3801 Nebraska Avenue 

Washington 25, D .a. 

Dear Colonel Friedman: 

22 April 1952 

I bave received your letter of 14April, and also General Canine's favorable reply to General Irving, fol'1Jl8rded to me i'rom the Superintendent's.off'ice. 

In the matter of titles, I hope that you will DOte bow easily I change 

your address from "Dr.~ to "Colonel". I could with equal tacility use the title 

ot "Mr." which I agree is fully as meritorious and dignified as the other two. 

However, the custom of calling you Doctor may be even more Widespread and deeprooted than you suspect, f'or it has long since taken root at West Point and I 

expect that you will find it just as persistent here as in Washington. 

I appreciate very mucJt your revisi:ng the draft announcement of the evening 

lecture on the Be.con-Shakespeare issue. Tbe use of' the tam "an hour" in that 

announcement was purely figurative, and I am sure tmt the audience will be 

more than happy to hear this interesting matter discussed tor 80 minutes. 

With regard to appropriate attire for the talks, a business suit is both 

proper and customary here. This applies to tbe evening lecture as well as the 

morning lectures, and there is DO need whatsoever to include your tuxedo on 

this trip. 

In introducing you at the lectures, I should like to use appropriate features of your personal history. The 1nclosed sheet, extracted from AMERICAN MEN' 

-OF SOIENOE, gives·ganerally the type of illfomation needed for this purpose. 

However, it will bslp me it you will examine this sheet and correct or change 1 t 

in any way you wish -- either to indicate any itans you regard as unsuitable in 

an introduction, or to add important 1 tams not already included. 

Colonel Nicholas hopes very much tl:lat you will be his house-guest during 

your visit, and he is writiDg you a letter of invitation today-• 

.Again me.ey thanks ·tor your coopera. tion in helping us work out the plans 

for these lectures. We are lookiDg forward to them. as a real highlight of the 

year's activities. 

Very sincerely, 

Incl:· Extract from 

.AMJ!RIOAN MEN OF SOIENOE 

Col.USA, Profess 

Head of Dept. Math. 

roved for Release b NSA on 11-22-201 ursuantto E .0. 135 
.. 

' 

l!RIEDMAN, WILLIAM m&uCK 

Army Security Agency 

Department ot the Arm.1 

Washington 25, D .o. 

CRYPI'OLOGY 

REF ID:A66508 

Xis:hiD.iev, Russia, Sept.29,1891, came to USA in 1893. 

U.S. citizen; M.1917; children: 2. 

B.s. Clomell, 1914, graduate study 1914-15. 

- --Director·· dept• -genetics.,'>i:·Riverbank-b3:bs-.-,=:Geneva;i-1-1..-,-1915-l7-, ... ---·- -- ___,_ ___ --....... ~---..#.·~ 

cipher dept., 19-20. 

Cryptanalyst, Office of Chief Signal Officer, War Dept., Wash. 1921-45. 

Chief', Sigxlal Intell1g8DC e Service 1930-40. 

Recipian.t: United States Government highest award and decoration for exceptional 

civilian service; Medal for Merit, 1946; ExceptioDB.1 Service Award, 1944. 

Director Communications Research, A'1.TfJ7 Security Agency, Dept. ~. 1945-49. 

Special lecturer, Signal School, U.S.A. 

Tech. Adviser, Am.del.Int.Tel.Oont.,Wash.,1927; Madrid, 1932; tech.adviser and 

sec'y .Am.del.Int.'fel.Oonr.,Brussels,1928. u.s.rep., Madrid, 1932. 

Served as lst Lt., Mil.Intelligence 1918-19. 

Captain, Signal Res. 1924-26. 

Major, 1926-36. 

Lt.Col., 1936-41. 

Member: Maya Society, Phi Epsilon Pi. ---- ----- - ----~'-Ill-';" -- --- .. - -= -~-=---= ... --:. =-~ -=-- --:;:--- --- : ....... ""'-~ ---=---- : ... -- ... - - --- - _._"I'.'=- - - --i;.. --

Author: Riverbank Publications on Cryptography and CryptanaJ.ysis, 191'7-20. 

War Dept. publications on seme subject for persons in military or 

naval service. Contributor to Signal Corps Bulletin. , 

Inventor of many cryptographic devices and machinery. 

Secret comun.ications; co11UD.unioation security; signal intelligence; codes and 

ciphers. 

Home: 1823 Q,ue ~traet, N.W. 

Washington 9, D.O. 

also, Fenwick, Md.