SEAC and the Start of Image Processing at the National Bureau of Standards

Ida Rhodes

Mrs. Ida Rhodes was born on May 15, 1900 in Nemirow, Russia and died on February 1, 1986 in Washington, DC. Her parents had brought her to the United States in 1913. Mrs. Rhodes attended Cornell University from 1919-1923 where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1922 and 1923. She received her B.A. in Mathematics in February 1923 and an M.A. in September 1923. Mrs. Rhodes held numerous positions involving mathematical computations before she joined the Mathematical Tables Project (MTP) in 1940. The MTP was operated for the City of New York under sponsorship of NBS and the Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II. In 1946, MTP became the NBS Computation Laboratory; and on July 1, 1947 it became one of the four new sections of the new NBS Applied Mathematics Division. In 1947, Mrs. Rhodes was called to the NBS to participate in the development and procurement of automatic electronic digital computers. She soon became one of the foremost experts in this new field. From 1948 on, she gave many orientation lectures to other Government agencies and private firms explaining how computers could enable them to do their work more easily and faster. She also taught computer-coding techniques to variety of handicapped individuals. She lectured all over the world teaching computers applications until she formally retired in 1964, but continued to be an active consultant in NBS' Applied Mathematics Division until 1971. In 1949, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) presented Mrs. Rhodes an Exceptional Service Award (Gold Medal) for "significant pioneering leadership and outstanding contributions to the scientific progress of the Nation in the functional design and the application of electronic digital computing equipment." In 1976, the DOC presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation on the 25^th Anniversary of UNIVAC I, and then at the 1981 Computer Conference" citing her as a "UNIVAC I pioneer."

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