Excerpt from The Wall Falls, A Woman Rises: A Memoir by Dagnija Lacis

My first big assignment at 24: Presenting a program I developed to Japanese businessmen

In June of 1964, as a new graduate of Butler University, I sought employment in Indianapolis. I wanted to use my math proficiency, not my chemistry skills. Lab work just did not interest me. Dr. Dowd, my math professor, offered advice.

“Insurance companies hire math majors for actuary work. Computer companies, like IBM and Burroughs, are up and coming. They hire mathematicians.” 

I applied to both Indianapolis Insurance Company and Burroughs Corporation. Both extended offers. Burroughs offered $25 more per month. This helped to make my decision. I chose computer work.

During my first week as a systems representative, my boss called me into his office.

“I want to apologize for the barrage of tests that we gave you. You see, Burroughs does not have any female programmers. So, we called headquarters in Detroit. There was no precedent. No female had ever applied. But there were no rules against a female. That’s why all of the tests. You are the first female programmer at Burroughs Corporation!”

“The first female programmer,” I thought to myself. How strange. It seemed quite natural to be tested. I thought it was the regular practice for all new hires. How proud I was of that job!

Those were the days of huge mainframe computers filling large air-conditioned rooms. The floors were all raised to allow for cables which connected all peripherals—computer to printer, magnetic tape cabinets, hard disk cabinets, punch card reader, etc.

At Butler, I had only taken theoretical math, so the Burroughs B200 computer was a new challenge. In the evenings, I pored over bulky binders describing computer operations and assembler language programming. This challenge kept me interested. No way was the first girl programmer going to fail!

My computing interest grew with the new Burroughs large-scale B5500 computer system. Programming was so much easier. The programmer described the scientific problem in ALGOL—a math-friendly language or the programmer described the business problem in COBOL—an English-friendly language. The operating system managed all programs in the computer. The programmer had no need to know how the program was managed or how the computer memory was used. This was not the case with assembler programming. Any problem could be solved much faster on this computer. It was exciting! I was ready to do some programming in ALGOL.

Soon, I received an offer to join the Scientific Programming Group as a math programmer in Burroughs Detroit World Headquarters, just blocks from my current Burroughs location.

My job was to use my mathematical background to develop an optimization program to attract new clients. Many prospective clients needed such a system. They needed to find the minimum cost ingredients that satisfied the final product requirements. Usually, there were hundreds or thousands of ingredients from which to choose. In particular, the oil industry prospects were interested in minimum cost oil blends from thousands of choices that satisfied the resulting oil requirements. These types of searches would run for long hours until the optimal oil blend was reached.

Mathematically speaking, it was solving a set of simultaneous linear equations over and over until the minimum cost one was obtained. This was easy. But there was a complication for the Burroughs large computer. The number of choices was limited to 1,024. Our prospects had thousands of choices. I needed to use an extension of ALGOL called “stream procedures.” This allowed me to access each bit of the 48-bit word in order to pack in more choices. I loved this assignment.

Soon my optimization program was ready for a client. My boss, H. Wayne Nelson, called me into his office and presented an opportunity.

“Daggie [my nickname in the United States], Mitsubishi Oil in Japan is on the verge of purchasing a Burroughs computer for their oil blends. They are looking for a program that finds the minimum cost blend from thousands of choices. They need your optimization system.”

I was impressed that my efforts could result in potential revenue. And, Japan?

Those were the days when the computer was sold along with application programs. These applications often drove the computer sales and were free of charge. The significant computer price included all software, at least at Burroughs. However, one must remember that the computer consisted of a room filled with huge equipment. How odd that today’s desktop PC is just as powerful, if not more so!

My boss continued. “Would you be willing to travel to Tokyo and demonstrate your program?”

A couple of weeks later, my boss stopped by my desk. “Could I see you for a minute?”

As I entered his office, I stared at his face. It was bright pink. “Daggie, I am disappointed to tell you this. They found out that you are a woman. Females cannot conduct a business meeting in Japan.”

My heart sank. My only consolation was to see how appalled my boss was. Wayne Nelson always promoted talent, be it male or female. He was a man ahead of his time. Wayne believed that a leader could be male or female. But, in the 1960s, most felt differently toward women in business. With a heavy heart, I left his office. It was ironic that no one else could give the presentation. No one else knew the system. I had just finished testing it—so no documentation yet. 

A few weeks later, my boss again asked to see me. He was smiling. “You won! The Mitsubishi managers would like to meet with you in California at the J. P. Getty Estate.” His voice had a triumphant tone. “And I have arranged for the Burroughs jet to take you.”

This was my first experience in a private jet. The sales manager and I were the only passengers. 

Soon, we arrived. A limousine greeted us as we stepped off the plane. A few minutes later, we entered the J. P. Getty Board Room. It was an elegant room with a large oval table in the center. At the far end was a screen and a podium. Six Japanese men were already seated and looked up as we entered. Two of them jumped up and rushed toward me. They kept smiling and bowing. Then, they handed me a couple of packages.

“Thank you for coming. We are very happy to meet you.” Not knowing what to do, I bowed also. My heart was beating rapidly. This was my first high-level meeting. They had traveled from Japan to hear me! After introductions, I started the presentation—surprisingly calm and confident. I was proud of my work and enjoyed presenting the benefits. Several questions ensued before we had to dash for the Burroughs plane.

On the plane back to Detroit, I opened the packages. A lovely set of pearls. Probably repayment for the embarrassment of not allowing me to meet them in Japan. But I forgave them. The private jet and gift were sufficient repayment. It had been a great day. I had only seen private jets in the movies. Now, I had experienced one!