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Cryptologic Hall of Honor

The Cryptologic Hall of Honor was created in 1999 to pay special tribute to the pioneers and heroes who rendered distinguished service to American cryptology.

The standards are high for induction into this great hall. The individuals honored were innovators over their entire careers or made major contributions to the structure and processes of American cryptology. The men and women who have been inducted to the Cryptologic Hall of Honor are all greats in the once silent world of cryptology.

In the early days of America's cryptologic effort, many of the "giants" did both Signals Intelligence and Information Assurance. They made important contributions to both offensive and defensive cryptology. As such, they were among the first inducted into the Cryptologic Hall of Honor.

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Lester K. Myers, 2020 Hall of Honor inductee
Lester K. Myers
By | Dec. 15, 2020
About Lester K. Myers, former NSA Senior Language Analyst, mentor, and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.

Dr. Whitfield Diffie, 2020 Hall of Honor inductee
Dr. Whitfield Diffie
By | Dec. 15, 2020
About Dr. Whitfield Diffie, computer security pioneer and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.

Barbara A. McNamara, 2020 Hall of Honor inductee
Barbara A. McNamara
By | Dec. 15, 2020
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, 2020 Hall of Honor inductee
Dr. David Kahn
By | Dec. 15, 2020
About Dr. David Kahn, Journalist, Author, former NSA Scholar-in-Residence, and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.

George R. Cotter 2020 Hall of Honor inductee
George R. Cotter
By | Dec. 15, 2020
About George R. Cotter, former NSA Chief of Staff, NSA Chief Scientist, and 2020 Hall of Honor inductee.

Samuel S. Snyder

2007 Hall of Honor Inductee

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Samuel Snyder began his career as an "assistant cryptographic clerk" with the U.S. Army's Signal Intelligence Service in 1936. He was one of the first ten employees in that organization, which was a predecessor to NSA. During World War II, he led large teams that exploited Japanese army cryptosystems.

Noticing that use of sorting machines for cryptanalytic support was haphazard, Snyder suggested a more systematic approach to William Friedman, and Friedman tasked him with developing it. Snyder's innovations made special-purpose devices a strong asset in rapid wartime exploitation of enemy communications.

After the war, Snyder carefully researched what was known about the new field of computing and in 1952 was instrumental in designing and building ABNER, a then-sophisticated computer that took advantage of advanced technology.

During the 1950s, Snyder conducted in-house research and worked with outside contractors to design and build three more powerful systems. The last of these was HARVEST, one of the first general-purpose computers. HARVEST greatly expanded NSA's computing capabilities, but also had significant influence on the commercial computer market.

In 1964 Snyder became an information systems specialist for the Library of Congress and was one of the creators of the library's Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) system for bibliographic data. This became an international standard for data sharing in research.

Samuel Snyder's pioneering work in early computers led directly to the development of the computer as we know it, and laid the foundation for many aspects of the modern computing industry.