David Hamer passed away in 2017.
David Hamer was
born in the United Kingdom and educated there and in the United States as a
physical chemist but he spent the greater part of his career away from the
sciences. His interests were broadly mathematical and included classical
cryptology - the study of codes and ciphers -particularly the German Enigma
and other WW2 cipher systems. He was a keen, amateur astronomer and was, in
addition, totally addicted to the Times (London) and Guardian crossword
puzzles. He lectured extensively on the technological history of cryptology,
is the author of a number of articles on Enigma and other cipher machines and
made television appearances - most recently on the USA's Fox News Channel,
BBC's Newsnight and on the National Geographic channel broadcast in both the
UK and USA. David was
associated with the National Security Agency's [NSA] National Cryptologic
Museum [NCM] in Fort Meade, MD as a member of the Executive Committee of the
NCM Foundation, Vice-Chairman of the Acquisitions Committee and the
Foundation's UK Liaison Officer. In 2013 he was presented with NSA's
Commemorative Service Medal by that agency's Deputy Director, Mr. John C.
'Chris' Inglis. David was also an active member of the Crypto Simulation Group,
a member of the Editorial Board of the academic journal Cryptologia and
an Associate Editor of the UK-published Eye Spy magazine. In 2000 David was
appointed Visiting Research Scholar by the Bletchley Park Trust, custodians of
the cryptologic museum at Bletchley Park in the UK: in 2007 he was awarded the
Freedom of Bletchley Park. Since 2002 he has been part of the organizing team
for the 'Conflict' series of historical conferences held annually at Christ
Church, Oxford. In 2014 he was selected to represent the UK's National Museum
of Computing [TNMoC] at an international cryptologic conference in the United
States and most recently was invited to serve on the Board of Directors of
Robarts Ltd., a multi-faceted London-based company whose broad area of
interests includes modern developments in intelligence
gathering. David served as the historian for EnigmaMuseum.com starting in 2005.
Various career
moves and appointments have resulted in a rather nomadic lifestyle. David made
his home in the United States since the mid-1960's. Several long-term
assignments have resulted in periods of residence in Berlin, Paris and
London. His travels have also taken him to India, Malta, Nigeria, North Africa
and the Middle-East, and most of the countries of western Europe. He saw
military service with the Royal Air Force in an intelligence
role. David's wife
Joan, also a native of the UK, is retired from her position as an
officer with a major U.S. bank. 15 June, 2017