Frank Byron Rowlett (May 2, 1908 – June 29, 1998) was an American
cryptologist
This is a list of cryptographers. Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties called adversaries.
Pre twentieth century
* Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi: wrote a (now lost) book ...
.
Life and career
Rowlett was born in
Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia
Rose Hill is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Virginia, United States. The population was 799 at the 2010 census, up from 714 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Rose Hill is located in western Lee County a ...
and attended
Emory & Henry College
Emory & Henry College (E&H or Emory) is a private liberal arts college in Emory, Virginia. The campus comprises of Washington County, which is part of the Appalachian highlands of Southwest Virginia. Founded in 1836, Emory & Henry College is ...
in
Emory, Virginia
Emory is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,251 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kingsport– Bristol (TN)– Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a com ...
. In 1929 he received a bachelor's degree in mathematics and chemistry. He was hired by
William Friedman
William Frederick Friedman (September 24, 1891 – November 12, 1969) was a US Army cryptographer who ran the research division of the Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1930s, and parts of its follow-on services into the 1950s. In ...
as a "junior cryptanalyst" for the
Signals Intelligence Service
The Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) was the United States Army codebreaking division through World War II. It was founded in 1930 to compile codes for the Army. It was renamed the Signal Security Agency in 1943, and in September 1945, became th ...
(SIS) on
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...
1930; shortly after, he was followed into SIS by
Abraham Sinkov
Abraham Sinkov (August 22, 1907 – January 19, 1998) was a US cryptanalyst. An early employee of the U.S. Army's Signals Intelligence Service, he held several leadership positions during World War II, transitioning to the new National Security A ...
and
Solomon Kullback
Solomon Kullback (April 3, 1907August 5, 1994) was an American cryptanalyst and mathematician, who was one of the first three employees hired by William F. Friedman at the US Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1930s, along with Frank ...
.
During the 1930s, after a lengthy period of training, Rowlett and his colleagues compiled
code
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
s and
cipher
In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...
s for use by the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
and began solving a number of foreign, notably
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese, systems. In the mid-1930s, they solved the first Japanese machine for
encipherment of
diplomatic
Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...
communications, known to the Americans as
RED
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
. In 1939–40, Rowlett led the
SIS effort that solved a more sophisticated Japanese diplomatic machine cipher, codenamed
PURPLE
Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...
by the U.S. Once, when asked what his greatest contribution to that effort had been, Rowlett said, "I was the one who believed it could be done." Rowlett supervised cryptanalyst
Virginia Dare Aderholdt
Virginia Dare Aderholdt was an Arlington Hall cryptanalyst and Japanese translator, who decrypted the intercepted Japanese surrender message, August 14, 1945. Early years
Virginia was the daughter of Oscar Wrey Aderholdt, a Lutheran clergyman, and ...
, who decrypted the Japanese surrender message, August 14, 1945.
Rowlett also played a crucial role in protecting American communications during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, making fundamental and innovative contributions to the design of the
SIGABA
In the history of cryptography, the ECM Mark II was a cipher machine used by the United States for message encryption from World War II until the 1950s. The machine was also known as the SIGABA or Converter M-134 by the Army, or CSP-888/889 by the ...
cipher machine
In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...
. Its security was an important factor in saving American lives in combat. In 1964, Congress awarded Rowlett US$100,000, equivalent to $ in , as partial compensation for his classified cryptologic inventions.
In addition to having highly developed cryptanalytic skills, Rowlett was a good manager, and he rose quickly within the organization. In 1943–45 he was chief of the General Cryptanalytic Branch, and in 1945-1947 chief of the Intelligence Division. From 1949 to 1952, he was technical director in the Office of Operations of the
Armed Forces Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...
, predecessor to the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
(NSA).
Rowlett differed with General
Ralph J. Canine
Ralph Julian Canine (November 9, 1895 – March 8, 1969) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army and the first director of the National Security Agency.
Early life and education
Canine was born in 1895 in Flora, Indiana, one of two c ...
, the first director of NSA, over personnel movements, including his own. Acting on his differences, he transferred to the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA) in 1952 and worked there until 1958. At that time he returned to
NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...
as a Special Assistant to the Director. In 1965 Rowlett became commandant of the
National Cryptologic School
The National Cryptologic School (NCS) is a school within the National Security Agency that provides training to members of the Intelligence Community.
The National Cryptologic School is a Cryptologic Training School within the National Securit ...
. In 1965, Rowlett was awarded the
President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service
Established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on 27 June 1957 by , the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service was created to allow the President to recognize civilian officers or employees of the federal government who have ...
.
[http://www.lbjlibrary.org/collections/on-this-day-in-history/june.html] He retired from federal service in 1966. In 1965 he was awarded the
National Security Medal
The National Security Medal is a decoration of the United States of America officially established by President Harry S. Truman in Executive Order 10431 of January 19, 1953. The medal was originally awarded to any person, without regard to natio ...
by President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
for his work on breaking the Japanese
Purple
Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...
cipher.
Rowlett has been inducted into the
Military Intelligence Hall of Fame
The Military Intelligence Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established by the Military Intelligence Corps of the United States Army in 1988 to honor soldiers and civilians who have made exceptional contributions to military intelligence. The hall is ...
.
Because of his importance in the protection of American communications, the
Information Systems Security Organization has named its highest award the
Frank Byron Rowlett Award {{refimprove, date=December 2017
The Frank Byron Rowlett Award (formerly the Information Systems Security National Award) is an award given by the National Security Agency to recognize outstanding organizational and individual excellence in the fie ...
.
Frank Rowlett died June 29, 1998, at age 90.
See also
*
Operation Gold
Operation Gold (also known as Operation Stopwatch by the British) was a joint operation conducted by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1950s to tap into landline communica ...
*
Leo Rosen
Leo Rosen was a U.S. cryptanalyst who worked with Frank Rowlett at Signals Intelligence Service (S.I.S.) before the start of World War II on Japanese ciphers. Rowlett found a method to read the messages enciphered on the Japanese PURPLE machine. R ...
References
* Frank B. Rowlett, ''The Story of
Magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
: Memoirs of an American
Cryptologic
Cryptologic Limited was a Dublin, Ireland-based software application service provider (formerly Toronto, Ontario, Canada), one of the oldest established in the online gambling industry. It was acquired by the Amaya Gaming Group in 2012 and has si ...
Pioneer'', with Foreword and Epilogue by
David Kahn, Laguna Hills, CA, Aegean Press, 1999.
*
James Gannon, ''Stealing Secrets, Telling Lies: How
Spies
Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations.
Spies or The Spies may also refer to:
* Spies (surname), a German surname
* Spies (band), a jazz fusion band
* "Spies" (song), a song by Coldplay
* ...
and
Codebreakers
Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic se ...
Helped Shape the Twentieth century'', Washington, D.C., Brassey's, 2001, especially chapter 6: Who Broke
Purple
Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...
? (pp. 94–106).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowlett, Frank
1908 births
1998 deaths
American cryptographers
National Security Agency cryptographers
Signals Intelligence Service cryptographers
Emory and Henry College alumni
People from Rose Hill, Virginia
Mathematicians from Virginia
Recipients of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service