William Dean Wray (1910 – 1962) Mathematician/Cryptologist

Chris Christensen
David Agard
Northern Kentucky University

Two days after William’s 6 th birthday, a fire engine
came to the Wray home to take William to the
hospital. During the summer there had been a polio
outbreak in New York City, and despite efforts by
health department authorities that outbreak had
spread to upstate New York. He was taken to the
former Henry Sage mansion that had been the
infirmary for Cornell University. An annex had
become an isolation ward for polio patients.

“[William’s] days of normal boyhood development
were over.” “During the winter of 1916 – 17, while the
United States inched its way toward war with German,
Alfred and Sarah worked to restore William to as
nearly a normal life as he would ever be able to have.
The life of the family was accommodated to the
routine of his exercise and rest periods. He did not go
to school, but his mother taught him at home.”
“His bed was an iron frame, and on it he was
immobilized by straps across his chest and abdomen.”

“William spent the summer [of
1925] swimming in the warm and
buoyant waters at Warm Springs
and loved every minute of it.”
“A high point of the summer for
William was meeting Franklin
Roosevelt. William had several
conversations with Mr.
Roosevelt, who was something
of a hero to William because of
his valiant battle against polio
and his refusal to be defeated by
his handicaps. One day the
future President presented
William with his old Chemistry
book. William would cherish
this gift throughout his life.”

Haverford College
William entered the small,
Quaker-founded, liberal
arts Haverford College
located west of
Philadelphia to prepare for
a career as a teacher.
William was a
mathematics major.
“William’s course grades
were never outstanding
Graduated with A.B. in
1932.
Cornell
February 1941 Ph. D. Cornell. “Some
Applications of Uniformity Trials.”
July 1934, to January 1938 Teacher of
Mathematics at Cascadilla School,
Ithaca, NY.
September 1937 to June 1940
Instructor of Mathematics at
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
January 1938 to June 1942 Instructor
of Mathematics at Williams College,
Williamstown, MA .
Naval “Elementary Cryptanalysis”
correspondence course while at
Williams College

… during the late 30’s and early 40’s the Navy had made a
rather timely assessment of the rising exigency and set up
an extensive and effective recruitment program to cinch up
the capabilities of the Reserves. … the all-out recruitment
program was a major factor in beefing up our intelligence
capability. Following the canvas of major colleges
throughout the country as well as personnel of the Naval
Reserve itself, the “correspondence course” was made
available to a number of people on a highly selective basis.
This energetic program clearly proved its merit when the
war broke out and the Navy was able to come up with a
cadre of highly professional people who were immediately
available to become active as commissioned officers of the
Navy.
Paul Kosatka

Admittedly, in the summer of 1942, Bill and I as civilians
were low men on the totem pole. … Our supervisor had
been an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Yale
University. Three others of the uniformed staff were Yale
people and these three were well-known to our supervisor
and had better mathematical reputations then we had.
Although Bill and I had degrees from Cornell and
Princeton, respectively. Bill had come to the Navy from a
small Massachusetts school and I came from faraway Texas.
But, in about a year’s time, Bill and I working together
solved a problem that these others had tried their hand on
and had not been able to solve. From then on we had a
reputation.

You can imagine my surprise when I had asked for
some professional mathematical talent and in the
same week in walked two weird characters. One was a
person of short deformed stature, one was a long lean
lanky character. Both looked ill-fed and it didn’t look
like either of them would ever have a good
mathematical idea.
Howard Engstrom

Nebraska Avenue
OP-20-G
Top row
4: Greenwood
5: Engstrom
9: Tiltman
Middle row
2: Hall
5: Gleason

Bill soon became a favorite of
the entire staff, both officers
and enlisted personnel. A
naval directive required that
all naval officers be addressed
as Mr. ______. The enlisted
personnel did not fancy being
ordered how to address
others. Here, in Bill Wray,
was a person whom they did
not have to call “mister”. So,
with genuine affection, they
called him Doctor Wray.
Robert Greenwood

I am not sure what details of that period of cryptology
were ever declassified, but … I do know that Dr. Wray
played a significant role in running the major analytic
organization supporting U.S. policy and diplomatic
activities surrounding [the Marshall Plan and the
stand-up of NATO].
George Cotter

Korea
[Wray’s organization] was
very deeply and directly
engaged in supporting our
forces on the Korean
Peninsula. I know few
details but Dr. Wray was
clearly a force in the
elevation of AFSA to the
National Security Agency, a
step that occurred in 1952.
George Cotter

October, 1952, Wray
transferred to the newly
created national Security
Agency.

Employee Performance Appraisal 1956
As Chief of a division containing almost 1000 civilian
and Service personnel Dr. Wray continues to do an
excellent job. … He has my full confidence and I place
him among the few whom I would consider key
personnel in the National COMINT Center.
/s/ Louis W. Tordella, Chief, NSA-70

1956 Chief of ACOM.
1959 Chief of Production Group C. Techniques Group.

During the first half of the period of this appraisal, [Wray]
was Chief of the Techniques Group, a staff organization of
PROD responsible for assisting all areas requiring technical
assistance, and for dealing with those technical matters not
the purview of any single analytic office.
Dr. Wray was taken from this assignment to serve on a
specially appointed Management Board whose mission was
to study the reorganization of the Agency.
In this new structure, Dr. Wray has assumed the position of
Chief of Group C which provides all the necessary technical
services for the analytic areas.
/s/ John J. Davis, BRIG GEN, USA, ADP

It is therefore difficult to pinpoint the exact nature or
extent of his personal involvement in NSA’s actions
during [the Cuban Missile Crisis]. Nevertheless,
CINCLANT’s 28 November letter to Lt. General
Gordon Blake, then Director of NSA, would seem to
include Dr. Wray in the assessment that “In the
present situation SIGINT has been one of the most
important single factors in supporting our operations
and improving our readiness” during the crisis.

He was off work about two or three weeks and when he came
back he was under Doctor’s orders to work only four hours a day.
This he did for a little over a week and then the Cuban missile
crisis flared up and our Agency was heavily involved. The
organization Bill was directing at the time was responsible for
this area. … Bill quickly forgot his doctors orders and started
putting in long days. We all put in extra hours and I can
remember going home after a 12 or 14 hour day and seeing Bill
still around the area. I know that at least on one occasion he
didn’t go home at all but managed to get a little rest on a bed in
the dispensary. Just as the Cuban missile crisis came to an end
Bill went into his terminal illness and shortly thereafter passed
away. There is no question in my mind that Bill sacrificed his life
for his country.
John Guccione

[Dr. William Wray] devoted much of the latter part of
his career to improvements in NSA management, and
he was universally respected for his insight into
technical needs. He was successively Deputy Chief of
TNG, Chief of ACOM, Chief of PROD 03, Chief of C
Group, and finally Chief of B Group. … he was also, at
the time of his death, president of the Crypto-
Mathematics Institute.

Dr. Wray was a brilliant and eminently successful
leader in the field of Cryptology, and is deserving of
this highest Civilian Service Award.
/s/ John J. Davis, Major General, USA, Assistant
Director, NSA for Production