Alan Turing – Computer Scientist, Mathematician, & Cryptanalyst – England
(Photo: reddit "History in Color" project,
Text: Sean Dunnington, "LGBTQ History of Geography & Computers” Project)
Generally regarded as the “father” of theoretical computing science and artificial intelligence, Alan Turing is the name that most often comes to mind when people think about an influential gay computer science pioneer. His life story become even more well known thanks to the acclaimed 2014 film The Imitation Game. A graduate of Cambridge and Princeton, Turing worked as a cryptanalyst during World War II, playing a key role in the development of a technique to decipher encrypted German messages, which helped the Allied forces defeat the Nazis. After the war he worked at the National Physical Library in London,
