Stephen Matyas Jr.

Stephen Matyas died May 24, 2023. Matyas was a breeder of Birmingham Roller pigeons, falconer, pianist and composer of classical piano music, helicopter pilot in the United States Navy, and inventor of cryptographic products for IBM (for which he was listed on ninety-nine patent applications). For his 1974 Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, he wrote the first doctoral thesis on the subject of cryptography in the United States. As a collector of rare books, Matyas specialized in printings of the Declaration of Independence from 1776 to 1825, particularly those found in books and pamphlets.