Raye Jean Montague (née Jordan; January 21, 1935 – October 10, 2018)[1] was an American naval engineer credited with creating the first computer-generated rough draft of a U.S. naval ship. She was the first female program manager of ships in the United States Navy.[2]
Raye Jordan was born on January 21, 1935 to Rayford Jordan and Flossie Graves Jordan in Little Rock, Arkansas.[3] She was inspired to pursue engineering after seeing a German submarine that had been captured by the Americans and put on tour across the country.[4]
She graduated from Merrill High School in 1952 and Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College (now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in 1956 with a bachelor of science degree in business. At the time, the engineering program at the University of Arkansas did not admit African-American students.[5]
Montague joined the United States Navy in 1956 in Washington, D.C. as a clerk typist. At work, she sat next to a 1950s UNIVAC I computer, watching the engineers operate it until one day, when all the engineers were sick, she jumped in to run the machine.[4] She took computer programming at night school while continuing to work and learn the job.[5] She was appointed as a computer systems analyst at the Naval Ship Engineering Center, and later served as the program director for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Integrated Design, Manufacturing, and Maintenance Program, the division head for the Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) Program, and deputy program manager of the navy's Information Systems Improvement Program.[3]
In the 1970s, her department was allotted one month to create a computer-generated ship design. By modifying existing automated systems, Montague produced the initial draft for the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in around 19 hours.[3] With this accomplishment, she became the first person to design a ship using a computer system.[5] She later worked on ships such as the Seawolf-class submarine and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower. Montague retired in 1990.[3]
Montague died on October 10, 2018, at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. No cause of death was given; however, she suffered from congestive heart failure.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raye_Montague
Raye Jordan was born on January 21, 1935 to Rayford Jordan and Flossie Graves Jordan in Little Rock, Arkansas.[3] She was inspired to pursue engineering after seeing a German submarine that had been captured by the Americans and put on tour across the country.[4]
She graduated from Merrill High School in 1952 and Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College (now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in 1956 with a bachelor of science degree in business. At the time, the engineering program at the University of Arkansas did not admit African-American students.[5]
Montague joined the United States Navy in 1956 in Washington, D.C. as a clerk typist. At work, she sat next to a 1950s UNIVAC I computer, watching the engineers operate it until one day, when all the engineers were sick, she jumped in to run the machine.[4] She took computer programming at night school while continuing to work and learn the job.[5] She was appointed as a computer systems analyst at the Naval Ship Engineering Center, and later served as the program director for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Integrated Design, Manufacturing, and Maintenance Program, the division head for the Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) Program, and deputy program manager of the navy's Information Systems Improvement Program.[3]
In the 1970s, her department was allotted one month to create a computer-generated ship design. By modifying existing automated systems, Montague produced the initial draft for the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in around 19 hours.[3] With this accomplishment, she became the first person to design a ship using a computer system.[5] She later worked on ships such as the Seawolf-class submarine and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower. Montague retired in 1990.[3]
Montague died on October 10, 2018, at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. No cause of death was given; however, she suffered from congestive heart failure.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raye_Montague
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.