Gene Grabeel (June 5, 1920 – January 30, 2015) was an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

cryptanalyst 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 sec ...

who founded the

Venona project The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program initiated during World War II by the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (later absorbed by the National Security Agency), which ran from February 1, 1943, until Octob ...

Early life

Grabeel was born on June 5, 1920, 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 ...

, where she grew up; her mother raised chickens and her father farmed tobacco. She graduated from

Mars Hill College Mars Hill University is a private Christian university in Mars Hill, North Carolina. The university offers 35 undergraduate majors and includes a school of nursing and graduate schools in education, criminal justice, and management. From 1859 t ...

and Farmville State Teachers College and initially worked as a high school

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

teacher in Madison Heights to teenage girls.

Career

On the recommendation of a friend of hers,

Frank Rowlett Frank Byron Rowlett (May 2, 1908 – June 29, 1998) was an American cryptologist. Life and career Rowlett was born in Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia and attended Emory & Henry College in Emory, Virginia. In 1929 he received a bachelor's d ...

, Grabeel joined the

Signal 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 t ...

on December 28, 1942, where she was assigned to attack intercepted Soviet ciphertext. Her father gave her his permission to do so and "push some papers around" during the next few months. Thusly did Grabeel began her 36-year career with the

. On February 1, 1943, she founded the

, a counterintelligence program aimed at decrypting Soviet communications. She and others spent months sifting through stored and incoming Soviet telegrams. Grabeel initially worked with Leonard Zubko, a Russian speaker, but he was soon replaced. In his book ''Code Warriors: NSA's Codebreakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union'', Stephen Budiansky describes how she came into the opportunity to work as a U.S. government cryptanalyst: Grabeel retired from service in 1978, as the

came to a close.

Personal life

Grabeel attended Blackstone Baptist Church. She was a member of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

and of the 17th Century Colonial Dames. Later in life, she was a fan of

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

basketball. She dated men, but was not interested in marriage, similarly to her colleagues.

Death and legacy

Grabeel died at age 94 on January 30, 2015 in

Blackstone, Virginia Blackstone, formerly named Blacks and Whites, and then Bellefonte, is a town in Nottoway County, Virginia, Nottoway County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 3,621 at the 2010 census. History The settlement was founded as the vill ...

. After the 1995

declassification Declassification is the process of ceasing a protective classification, often under the principle of freedom of information. Procedures for declassification vary by country. Papers may be withheld without being classified as secret, and even ...

of the Venona project, Grabeel was recognized by 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, ...

as an "American Hero". She was memorialized with a historical highway marker along with

in Virginia.

References

External links

The Venona Story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grabeel, Gene 1920 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians Signals Intelligence Service cryptographers Female Signal Intelligence Service personnel in World War II American women mathematicians 20th-century American women scientists People from Rose Hill, Virginia People from Blackstone, Virginia 20th-century women mathematicians Mathematicians from Virginia 21st-century American women