Name: Martin Edward Hellman

Born: October 2, 1945, in New York, USA

  • American cryptologist best known for his invention of public key cryptography.
  • Long-time contributor to the computer privacy debate and is more recently known for promoting risk analysis studies on nuclear threats, including the NuclearRisk.org website.

Significant publications

  • An Overview of Public Key Cryptography (2010).
  • Sending Secret Messages (1995).
  • On the Inevitability and Prevention of Nuclear War (1986).

Honors and awards

  • Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2011).
  • Awarded the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (2010).
  • Golden Jubilee Award from the IEEE Information Theory Society (1998).
  • Awarded the Franklin Institute’s Louis E. Levy Medal (1997).
  • IEEE Donald G. Fink Prize Paper Award (1981).
  • Bailey Diffie

Websites

  • Martin Hellman personal website
  • Defusing the Nuclear Threat