Mary Hughes Budenbach

Mary Caroline "Polly" Hughes Budenbach (April 18, 1914 – June 23, 2005) was an American cryptanalyst. She won the Federal Woman's Award in 1969, and was posthumously inducted into the NSA Hall of Honor in 2017.

Early life and education Mary Caroline Hughes was born in New York City and raised in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, the daughter of Harold Lincoln Hughes and Jane Plunkett Hughes. She attended The Hartridge School and graduated from Smith College in 1934, with a bachelor's degree in English.

Career During World War II, Budenbach worked as a cryptanalyst with the United States Navy in Washington, D.C., focused on Japanese naval cryptosystems. based at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. She worked on computerizing analytical tasks in cryptology, and chaired a committee on promotion and assignment for women at the NSA. She described her work in 1969 as "challenging, fascinating, interesting and frustrating, but not romantic."

Budenbach was recognized with the Navy's Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1945. In 1969, she received the Federal Woman's Award. "When they heard of the award, many of my friends came to me and said 'Now we know where you work'," she told a reporter in 1969. She died in New Jersey in 2005, aged 91 years. Also in 2017, she was posthumously inducted into the NSA Hall of Honor.