Melvin Currie | |
---|---|
Born | 1948 |
Alma mater | Yale University University of Pittsburgh |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Mathematics |
Doctoral advisor | William Fleissner |
Melvin Robert Currie is an American mathematician and cryptographer and a former Chief of the Cryptographic Research and Design Division at the National Security Agency. His recognitions include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Mathematicians, the 2007 Crypto-Mathematics Institute's Leadership Award, the NSA Director's Distinguished Service Medal, and recognition as a Black History Month 2019 Honoree by Mathematically Gifted & Black.[1][2] He is the author of the 2018 popular mathematics book Mathematics: Rhyme and Reason, published jointly by the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.[3] Currie is also the author of the 2019 novel Just Before Too Late.
Currie is African-American. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1948. His parents separated when he was six. Currie spent the rest of his childhood living with his mother, younger brother, and maternal grandparents.[4]
His uncle is jazz musician Ahmad Jamal.[5]
Currie received a BA from Yale University, where he majored in mathematics and economics. He went to graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh.[4] He received his PhD in mathematics in 1983; his advisor was William Fleissner, and the title of his dissertation was A metric characterization of the irrationals via a group operation.[6]