Ida Rhodes (birth name Hadassah Itzkowitz) was born on May 15, 1900, in a Jewish village between Nemirow and Tulcin in the Ukraine. Her parents; David and Bessie Sinkler Itzkowitz, brought her to the US in 1913.
She attended Cornell University (1919-1923). She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1922 and received her BA in mathematics in February 1923 and her MA in September of the same year. She later studied at Columbia University in 1930 and 1931.
She worked as a consultant at the NBS in Washington DC. In addition to her consulting work, she was a pioneer in the analysis of systems of programming. She designed the C-10 language in the early 1950 for the UNIVAC I-- a computer system that was used to calculate the census. She also designed the original computer used for the Social Security Administration. In 1949, the department of Commerce awarded her an exceptional Service Gold Medal for significant pioneering leadership and outstanding contributions to the scientific progress of the nation.
Ms. Rhodes retired in the 1970's but it was not until then that her work began to become widely known. It was during this time that she traveled across the world lecturing and maintaining international correspondence. In 1976, the Department of Commerce gave her a Certificate of Appreciation on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the UNIVAC I machine.
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