Dorothy Blum

Dorothy Toplitzky Blum (February 21, 1924 – October 1, 1980) was an American computer scientist and cryptanalyst. She worked for the National Security Agency and its predecessors from 1944 until her death in 1980.

Early life Dorothy Toplitzky was born in 1924 in New York City to Austro-Hungarian immigrant parents.

Career After graduating from Brooklyn College in 1944, she joined the cryptologic unit of the U.S. Army. This unit focused on cryptanalysis, the study of analyzing information systems to gain access to hidden aspects of systems, in this case, the Axis powers' encrypted messages. After World War II, she worked for the United States Armed Forces Security Agency and later the National Security Agency (NSA). beginning three years before its public release in 1957.

Legacy Blum died from cancer on October 1, 1980, aged 56. An internal award at the NSA - the Dorothy T Blum Award for excellence in employee personal and professional development - was named after her.

Personal life In 1950, she married NSA mathematician Joseph Blum, and they later had a son, David Blum.