The Heidelberg Laureate Forum has a single purpose: To provide some of the brightest minds in mathematics and computer science with the space and time to make connections and find inspiration. The HLFF Spotlight series shines a light on some of the brilliant individuals attending the event.

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Martin E. Hellman is Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, having served on the active faculty from 1971-1996. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT from 1969-1971. 

Hellman is best known for his invention of public key cryptography, for which he and Whitfield Diffie received the 2015 ACM A.M. Turing Award.

What first inspired you to pursue a career in your field?

I became a ham radio operator in my senior year of HS, which led to my majoring in Electrical Engineering for all three of my degrees, BE, MS, and PhD.

I was fortunate to have Tom Cover as my doctoral thesis advisor and he worked in Information Theory, so so did I. When I taught at MIT from 1969-1971, I was given Claude Shannon’s 1949 paper connecting information theory with cryptography. That’s when I first realized that cryptography was a branch of information theory. The rest is history.

What is the most important or meaningful development happening in your field right now and why?

Almost everyone would say it’s artificial intelligence, but I suspect that some other area will arise and surprise us.

For over forty years, my primary focus has been on preventing a nuclear war, an effort that now includes many other technological threats including climate change. 

If society were to face these threats honestly, I argue that they would be transformed into opportunities to finally build the more peaceful, more cooperative world that we have dreamed of for ages, but thought ourselves incapable of achieving. In this technological age, we will either build that world or we will destroy civilization.

What advice would you give to young researchers still at the beginning of their careers?

Don’t be afraid of appearing foolish. This is the theme of my 2013 lecture to Stanford’s School of Engineering on “The Wisdom of Foolishness.” Since then, I have asked six Nobel Laureates if their work that won them their prizes was initially encouraged or discouraged as foolish. Five of the six were clearly in the latter category.

What do you enjoy most about attending the Heidelberg Laureate Forum?

The chance to interact with young researchers and to see old friends.