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Ida Rhodes (born Hadassah Itzkowitz; May 15, 1900 – February 1, 1986) 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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
who became a member of the
clique A clique (AusE, CanE, or ; ), in the social sciences, is a small group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests rather than include others. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardles ...
of influential women at the heart of early
computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
development in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.


Childhood

Hadassah Itzkowitz was born in a Jewish village
Kamianets-Podilskyi Kamianets-Podilskyi (, ; ) is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi. Formerly the administrative center of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the city is now the administrative center of Kamianets ...
between
Nemyriv Nemyriv ( ; ) is a historic city in Vinnytsia Oblast (province) in Ukraine, located in the historical region of Podolia. It was the administrative center of former Nemyriv Raion (district). Population: Nemyriv is one of the oldest cities in Vin ...
and
Tulchyn Tulchyn (, ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in Vinnytsia Oblast (Oblast, province) of western Ukraine, in the historical region of Podolia. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Tulchyn Raion (Raion, district). Its population is 13,896 (2023 estim ...
in
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
on May 15, 1900. She was 13 years old in 1913 when her parents, David and Bessie () Itzkowitz, brought her to the United States. Her name was changed upon entering the country to Ida Itzkowitz. She sustained a connection to her
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
even in her computing work, publishing a paper called “Computation of the Dates of the Hebrew New Year and Passover” in Computers and Mathematics with Applications in 1977.


Career

Rhodes was awarded the New York State Cash Scholarship and a
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
Tuition Scholarship and began studying
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
only six years after coming to the United States, from 1919–1923. During her time at Cornell University she worked as a nurse's aid at Ithaca City Hospital. She was elected to the honorary organizations
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
(1922) and
Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to the area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of educa ...
(1923). She received her BA in mathematics in February, 1923 and her MA in September of the same year, graduating
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
. Ida Itzkowitz married Solomon Alhadef Rhodes on 20 September 1922 in Bronx, New York City, and became known as Ida Rhodes. The couple made a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States on 17 June 1924 but were divorced by 1940. Rhodes had her first encounter with Albert Einstein in 1922 and encountered him again in 1936 at Princeton, where a group of mathematicians traveled to spend the weekend in informal seminars. She later studied at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1930–31. She held numerous positions involving mathematical computations before she joined the
Mathematical Tables Project The Mathematical Tables Project was one of the largest and most sophisticated computing organizations that operated prior to the invention of the digital electronic computer. Begun in the United States in 1938 as a project of the Works Progress Admi ...
in 1940, where she worked under Gertrude Blanch, whom she would later credit as her mentor. Ida Rhodes was a pioneer in the analysis of systems of
programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...
, and with
Betty Holberton Frances Elizabeth Holberton (March 7, 1917 – December 8, 2001) was an American computer scientist who was one of the six original programmers of the first general-purpose electronic digital computer, ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And ...
designed the C-10 programming language in the early 1950s for the
UNIVAC I The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer I) was the first general-purpose electronic digital computer design for business application produced in the United States. It was designed principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the invento ...
. She also designed the original computer used for the
Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...
. In 1949, the
Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...
awarded her a 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". Though she retired in 1964, Rhodes continued to consult for the Applied Mathematics Division of the
National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...
until 1971. Her work became much more widely known after her retirement, as she took the occasion to travel around the globe, lecturing and maintaining international correspondence. In 1976, the Department of Commerce presented her with a further Certificate of Appreciation on the 25th Anniversary of UNIVAC I, and then at the 1981 Computer Conference cited her a third time as a "UNIVAC I pioneer." She died in 1986. In an unusual case of an old specialized algorithm still in use, and still credited to the original developer, in 1977 Rhodes was responsible for the "Jewish Holiday" algorithm used in calendar programs to this day. While at the National Bureau of Standards (no
NIST
, she also did original work in machine translation of natural languages.


References


Sources

*National Institute of Standards and Technology virtual museum *Blanch Anniversary Volume, February 21, 1967 *Charlene Morrow and Teri Peri (eds), ''Notable Women in Mathematics'', Greenwood Press, 1998, pp. 180–85


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Ida 1900 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American women computer scientists American computer scientists Department of Commerce Gold Medal Naturalized citizens of the United States Jewish American scientists Jewish women scientists 20th-century American women mathematicians Cornell University alumni Members of Phi Kappa Phi