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Martin E. Hellman : An Oral History
Hellman, MartinStanford (Calif.) : Stanford Historical Society, August 12, 2020Martin E. Hellman, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, reflects on his upbringing and education; his faculty career at Stanford, especially his contributions to cryptography; and his recent work on nuclear deterrence. Hellman shares memories of his education in the New York City public schools, his undergraduate years at New York University, and his graduate studies in electrical engineering at Stanford. He describes the origins of his interest in cryptography and recalls key collaborators, including Ralph Merkle, and important turning points in the development of public-key cryptography, research that led he and Whitfield Diffie to win the Turing Award in 2015. Hellman also recalls his efforts to support minority students as the associate dean of graduate studies for recruitment and retention in the School of Engineering; the impact of his relationship with his wife, Dorothie, on his life; and his most recent project “Rethinking National Security.”Early life in the Bronx • Grandparents’ immigration to the US from Eastern Europe • Childhood and schooling in the Bronx • Memories of school friends, including Henry Laufer • Early education in math and science • High school at Bronx Science • Interest in ham radio and exploring Manhattan’s “radio district” for surplus parts • Early interest in world affairs • Scholarship to attend New York University • Electrical Engineering at NYU • Istvan Palocz • Tutoring jobs and their impact in deepening his conceptual understanding of math; how this experience led to a special teaching assistantship program at Stanford for STEM graduate students • Meeting wife Dorothie on Catalina Island in 1966 • Desire to move to California for graduate school and decision to attend Stanford; NSF fellowship • Stanford Electrical Engineering (EE) faculty • PhD qualifying exams • Choosing Tom Cover as PhD advisor • Timeline to a quick PhD • Completing PhD research at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights • Exposure to cryptographic research at IBM; Horst Feistel • Deciding between academia and industry • Transition from IBM to teaching at MIT • Influence of Claude Shannon’s WWII-era work connecting information theory to cryptography • Returning to Stanford as a professor • Teaching new courses and learning alongside students • Stanford’s EE Department in the 1970s • Colleagues’ arguments against his desire to pursue cryptography research; “the wisdom of foolishness” • Approach to advising graduate students • Reflections on university service, the impact of Silicon Valley on Stanford, and money v. reputation • Stanford’s patent policy • Public-key cryptography • Collaborations with Whit Diffie and mathematician John Gill • The Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange • Important contributions from Ralph Merkle • Data Encryption Standard controversy over weak 56-bit key • The “first crypto war” • A memorable conversation with Admiral Bobby Ray Inman • Teaching short courses on encryption and data security through Hellman Associates • Working with Dorothie to resolve difficulties in marriage • Involvement with Creative Initiative Foundation / Beyond War • Writing a book with Dorothie • Leveraging success to bring attention to rethinking national security • Winning the Turing Award • Efforts to support diversity in the School of Engineering • Facing discrimination as a Jew in a Catholic neighborhood growing up • “No-fault approach to prejudice” • Work with Beyond War and publication of Breakthrough: Emerging New Thinking with Soviet scholars • Finding ways to support minority graduate students as associate dean of graduate studies for recruitment and retention; support from Elizabeth Traugott • Learning important lessons from students; success of students • Engineering Dean Jim Gibbons • Early investments in Amati and PayPal • Memories of Harry Rathbun and the Rathbun Lecture Series • Collaboration with Anatoly Gromyko on Breakthrough • Significance of the Turing Award • Using Turing Award money towards building a more peaceful, sustainable world • Retiring early • Current project “Rethinking National Security”
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Martin E. Hellman : An Oral History
Hellman, MartinStanford (Calif.) : Stanford Historical Society, August 12, 2020Martin E. Hellman, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, reflects on his upbringing and education; his faculty career at Stanford, especially his contributions to cryptography; and his recent work on nuclear deterrence. Hellman shares memories of his education in the New York City public schools, his undergraduate years at New York University, and his graduate studies in electrical engineering at Stanford. He describes the origins of his interest in cryptography and recalls key collaborators, including Ralph Merkle, and important turning points in the development of public-key cryptography, research that led he and Whitfield Diffie to win the Turing Award in 2015. Hellman also recalls his efforts to support minority students as the associate dean of graduate studies for recruitment and retention in the School of Engineering; the impact of his relationship with his wife, Dorothie, on his life; and his most recent project “Rethinking National Security.”Early life in the Bronx • Grandparents’ immigration to the US from Eastern Europe • Childhood and schooling in the Bronx • Memories of school friends, including Henry Laufer • Early education in math and science • High school at Bronx Science • Interest in ham radio and exploring Manhattan’s “radio district” for surplus parts • Early interest in world affairs • Scholarship to attend New York University • Electrical Engineering at NYU • Istvan Palocz • Tutoring jobs and their impact in deepening his conceptual understanding of math; how this experience led to a special teaching assistantship program at Stanford for STEM graduate students • Meeting wife Dorothie on Catalina Island in 1966 • Desire to move to California for graduate school and decision to attend Stanford; NSF fellowship • Stanford Electrical Engineering (EE) faculty • PhD qualifying exams • Choosing Tom Cover as PhD advisor • Timeline to a quick PhD • Completing PhD research at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights • Exposure to cryptographic research at IBM; Horst Feistel • Deciding between academia and industry • Transition from IBM to teaching at MIT • Influence of Claude Shannon’s WWII-era work connecting information theory to cryptography • Returning to Stanford as a professor • Teaching new courses and learning alongside students • Stanford’s EE Department in the 1970s • Colleagues’ arguments against his desire to pursue cryptography research; “the wisdom of foolishness” • Approach to advising graduate students • Reflections on university service, the impact of Silicon Valley on Stanford, and money v. reputation • Stanford’s patent policy • Public-key cryptography • Collaborations with Whit Diffie and mathematician John Gill • The Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange • Important contributions from Ralph Merkle • Data Encryption Standard controversy over weak 56-bit key • The “first crypto war” • A memorable conversation with Admiral Bobby Ray Inman • Teaching short courses on encryption and data security through Hellman Associates • Working with Dorothie to resolve difficulties in marriage • Involvement with Creative Initiative Foundation / Beyond War • Writing a book with Dorothie • Leveraging success to bring attention to rethinking national security • Winning the Turing Award • Efforts to support diversity in the School of Engineering • Facing discrimination as a Jew in a Catholic neighborhood growing up • “No-fault approach to prejudice” • Work with Beyond War and publication of Breakthrough: Emerging New Thinking with Soviet scholars • Finding ways to support minority graduate students as associate dean of graduate studies for recruitment and retention; support from Elizabeth Traugott • Learning important lessons from students; success of students • Engineering Dean Jim Gibbons • Early investments in Amati and PayPal • Memories of Harry Rathbun and the Rathbun Lecture Series • Collaboration with Anatoly Gromyko on Breakthrough • Significance of the Turing Award • Using Turing Award money towards building a more peaceful, sustainable world • Retiring early • Current project “Rethinking National Security”
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R. Fabian W. Pease : An Oral History
Pease, R. (R. Fabian W.)Stanford (Calif.) : Stanford Historical Society, April 16, 2019R. Fabian Pease, the William E. Ayer Professor in Electrical Engineering, Emeritus, reflects on his career at Stanford and his research on high resolution scanning electron microscopy and nano-fabrication techniques and their application. Pease shares memories of growing up in England and Canada during and after World War II, his early interest in electronics, and his education at Cambridge. He describes his research as an assistant professor at UC Berkeley and his transition to the technical staff at Bell Labs where he initially worked on digital television and began exploring techniques to shrink integrated circuits--a theme that continued throughout his career. Turning to his time at Stanford, Pease recalls his recruitment to the Department of Electrical Engineering, the development of the Center for Integrated Systems, and the joys and challenges of teaching engineering. He speaks about some of the projects on which he has collaborated, including the invention of the micro- channel heatsink for semiconductor manufacturing and the MagSweeper for isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs), as well as his recent efforts to develop an inexpensive scanning electron microscope using sealed vacuum tube technology.Family ancestry, including connection to the Wedgewood family of potters and Edward Pease, co-founder of the Fabian Society • Being sent away from England to Canada to escape World War II • Listening to the New York Metropolitan Opera on the radio sparks an interest in electronics • Boarding school at Bedales and experimenting with electronics, especially radio • Time in the Royal Air Force as a radar officer • Caving as a hobby • Studies at Cambridge and PhD thesis on high resolution scanning electron microscopy • Assistant professorship at UC Berkeley and work with Tom Everhart, including using electron microscopes to study living organisms • Berkeley during the Free Speech Movement • Move to Bell Labs technical staff to work on digital television; introduction to digital technology • Career looking at how to shrink integrated circuits • Work environment at Bell Labs compared to universities • Recruitment to Stanford Department of Electrical Engineering by Jim Gibbons and Jim Meindl in the late 1970s • Stanford’s reputation in the 1970s • Development of the Center for Integrated Systems • Challenges finding space and money • Unorthodox projects including developing a micro-channel heatsink with David Tuckerman • Difficulty getting science funding for electronics work • Teaching lithography • Challenges of teaching introductory engineering courses • Approach to teaching and evaluation of teaching • Results of efforts to integrate more field and lab experience into the new science core • Developing course “Engineering in the Micro World: From Chips to Genes” with Calvin Quate • Examples of student nanofabrication projects • Stanford Instructional Television Network • Pros and cons of televised teaching • Working with Jim Gibbons on applying electron beam technology to semiconductor manufacturing • Using electron beam techniques to make circuits smaller • Richard Feynman and the creation of the Feynman Prize for nanotechnology • Working with Tom Newman on a solution for winning the Feynman Prize • Developments in the field of optical lithography over career • Growth of lithography as a field • Receiving funding to pursue packaging research from the Semiconductor Research Corporation • Industry funding vs. government funding • Work at DARPA in the mid-1990s • Co-inventing the MagSweeper, an immunomagnetic separation device that isolates circulating tumor cells, with School of Medicine faculty member Stephanie S. Jeffrey • Sabbatical at Affimetrix working on synthesizing peptides • Learning biochemistry and gene sequencing during sabbatical • Working across disciplines and departments • Graduate student Harvey Liu’s work on optical properties of very fine silicon structures • Working with the Office of Technology Licensing at Stanford • Thoughts on consulting with Silicon Valley startups • Competition between ETEC and Varian on electron beam lithography tools • Role as vice chair for graduate admissions in EE and opinion on changes to the PhD qualifying exams • Chairing the Building and Safety Committee during Loma Prieta earthquake • Range of Stanford’s EE department and qualities of a good department chair • Thoughts on growth of administrative staff and overhead at Stanford; space utilization • Advice to younger faculty members • Story of the Cambridge Instrument Company and reflections on Stanford’s advantageous location in Silicon Valley • Family and children • Retirement as part of the Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (FRIP) • Manu Prakash and the foldscope; collaborating with Prakash on an inexpensive scanning electron microscope • Sailing and windsurfing • Retirement community and emergency preparedness • Decision to not take on administrative roles • Issue of staff promotions and Parkinson’s Law on the growth of bureaucracy; support from administrator Sandra Eisensee • Concerns about research administration at Stanford • Reflections on his legacy
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