Caryn Navy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Caryn Navy
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| Born | July 5, 1953 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Spouse(s) | David Holladay |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Nonparacompactness in Para-Lindelöf Spaces (1981) |
| Doctoral advisor | Mary Ellen Rudin |
Caryn Linda Navy (born July 5, 1953) is an American mathematician and computer scientist. She has been blind since she was a child. She is best known for her work in a type of math called set-theoretic topology and for creating technology that helps people read Braille.
Early Life and Learning
Caryn Navy was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1953. She was born early, which caused a condition that made her totally blind. Later, her family found out she could see a little bit from one eye. But when she was 10, she lost all her sight because of a problem with her eyes.
The next year, in sixth grade, Caryn started learning to read and write using Braille. Braille is a system of raised dots that blind people read with their fingertips. She also learned Nemeth Braille, which is a special Braille code for writing math. Math quickly became her favorite subject. She loved joining math competitions with her team. When she was 14, she figured out a math formula for special numbers called "perfect numbers" all by herself. She also learned Hebrew Braille for her bat mitzvah ceremony. At age 16, Caryn got her first job as a typist in New York City. She also learned how to travel around the city using the New York City Subway.
Education Journey
Caryn Navy went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1971 to 1975. MIT is a very famous school for science and technology. She studied math there. The only textbook she had in Braille was for her calculus class. For all her other classes, she listened to audiobooks from a group called Recording for the Blind.
At MIT, her teacher James Munkres introduced her to topology. This is a part of math that studies shapes and spaces. When she graduated in 1975 with her bachelor's degree in math, she won an award for her excellent grades. Early in college, Caryn met David Holladay, who was studying electrical engineering. He learned enough Braille to write her a note after they first met. They got married after they both graduated.
Caryn then went to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She continued to study math and also took classes in computer science. During her graduate studies, she used a device called an Optacon. This device helped her read textbooks that were not available in Braille or as audiobooks. She earned her master's degree in 1977. In 1981, she earned her Ph.D., which is the highest degree you can get. Her main teacher was a famous topologist named Mary Ellen Rudin.
Math Discoveries
Caryn Navy's Ph.D. paper was called "Nonparacompactness in Para-Lindelöf Spaces." This work was very important in helping mathematicians understand how to measure distances in different kinds of spaces. She studied "para-Lindelöf spaces," which are special types of spaces in math.
Her work showed that not all para-Lindelöf spaces are "paracompact." This was a big discovery because it went against what some mathematicians thought. Her examples helped solve a long-standing math problem called the "normal Moore space conjecture."
Career in Technology
After graduate school, Caryn Navy worked as a visiting professor at Bucknell University in 1981. While she was teaching, her husband, David Holladay, started a software company. It was called Raised Dot Computing. The company focused on making computer Braille technology. David was inspired by Caryn's need for Braille tools to help her teach math.
Caryn was a very important helper for the company. She gave ideas for software and tested the products in her university work. In December 1981, Raised Dot Computing released its first big product. It was called BRAILLE-EDIT. This program was a word processor and could translate text to Braille and back again for the Apple II computer.
Caryn left the university in 1984 to work full-time for the company. The couple and the company moved back to Madison, Wisconsin. Caryn used her computer skills to make the company's software even better. She helped create improved versions of BRAILLE-EDIT. She also made programs to handle Braille for textbooks and other special formats.
In 1985, they started making software for MS-DOS computers. Their most successful product was called MegaDots. It came out in August 1992 and was used until 2016. MegaDots helped people translate text to Braille and do word processing on their PCs.
In 1998, Raised Dot Computing became part of a nonprofit group called Braille Planet. Then, in 1999, another company called Duxbury Systems bought Braille Planet. Caryn Navy and David Holladay still live in Westford, Massachusetts, and they both still work at Duxbury Systems.
Caryn Navy is also a member of the Braille Authority of North America. She helps advise a committee that works on the Nemeth Braille Code for math.
