Our Founding Donor

Susie Ezzell Atta was born in Shorterville, AL November 11, 1917, and grew up in the Alabama Wiregrass, the fourth of ten children.

Robert Ezzell, Susie’s father, was described as “tough as nails,” a strict parent who raised his children to do whatever had to be done and to always tell the truth.  No truth was more important in the lives of his children than his emphatic encouragement, “You can do whatever you want.”



Susie believed that.  An outstanding student, she excelled in math and science.  Upon graduating as salutatorian of her high school classin 1937 from Abbeville Secondary Agricultural School, she attended Alabama College, State College for Women, now known as the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, AL, where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics in 1941.

Because she needed to pay off student loans, Susie taught science and mathematics in FL.  According to her sister Rose, Susie “didn’t like teaching because the kids didn’t have their minds on learning.”

Susie worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority doing computing work from 1944 until her employment was terminated in 1948.  She described her reduction in force termination as the beginning of a big turning point in her life.

My Alabama Student Loan plus interest that paid for my four years at Montevallo had been paid.  However, I had not been able to save any money after that debt was paid.  I felt lucky to find a teaching job in Lincoln, AL even at that late date after July 31.  Teaching was the only thing that I was prepared to do.  However, this was not something that I would be happy doing for the rest of my employment life.  My dream as a research mathematician was still my passion.  There were two big disadvantages to this ambition; the main problem was that I had no money; the second problem was that a research mathematician was not considered an appropriate career for a female.

In the summer of 1949 when she spoke with professors at the University of Alabama, she was advised she was not prepared to enter their graduate mathematics department.

I decided to stay at the university that summer.  I took Higher Algebra and Seminar courses toward a graduate degree in mathematics.  I also took application of calculus to qualify me to enter the graduate mathematics department.  I audited theory of Equations for a review.  It had been eight years since I graduated at Montevallo.

She taught school in Ocala, FL for the next school year, but in the summer of 1950 she returned to the University of Alabama where she was given a job teaching 25 male engineering students.  That job enabled her to stay at the university and finish her M.A. degree.

Despite resistance from some of the department professors, Susie Ezzell became the first woman to graduate from the University of Alabama with a master’s degree in mathematics.

In September 1951, her FBI security clearance allowed her to begin work at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, TN. She became a member of the mathematics panel, assigned to work with physicists in the aircraft nuclear propulsion division located at the Y-12 plant which had been part of the Manhattan Project that produced the Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

George was born August 5, 1923, in Brooklyn, NY.  He graduated from Matthew Fontaine Maury High School in 1941. George was a mail orderly with an antiaircraft artillery battalion in the European Theatre Operations during his service in the U.S. Army from 1945-1948, earning $2800.00 per year.   Using the Veteran’s Education Bill to go to college, he earned a degree in statistics at North Carolina State College in Raleigh, NC.  He earned $290.00 per week when he began working at Oak Ridge.

In 1952 Susie was selected as one of three mathematics panel members to go to Philadelphia, PA for an introduction to the binary language and work of the automatic high-speed computer UNIVAC 1.  UNIVAC 1 executed fundamental arithmetic operations at a speed measured in millionths of a second.

Following that visit she presented seminars on programming for UNIVAC 1 to other members of the mathematics panel and to research scientists. When others programmed their problem for solutions, Susie was assigned the responsibilities for taking the codes to UNIVAC for the solution.

In 1953 the Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical Engine, the ORACLE, began full scale operations.  Susie’s expertise was showcased in her writings and presentations on this computer used by most research scientists, including George.

George and Susie were married at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Oak Ridge October 17, 1953.

By taking classes at night and using leave without pay to take classes during the day, George completed his master’s degree in mathematical statistics in June 1960 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

In 1965 George accepted a position as a mathematical statistician at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD.  He worked with research scientists in the fields of pathology, biochemistry, and biology. 

Just a few days into his new position at NIH, George was asked if he had any recommendations for a mathematician to assist with problems of non-linear, parabolic partial differential equations in the study of the transport-diffusion-consumption of oxygen and related substances at the capillary blood- tissue complex in the muscle.  George said he knew exactly who could do that job.  He recommended Susie. She was hired and went on to conduct research at NIH until their retirement eighteen years later.



George and Susie Atta retired to Hilton Head, SC where they were active in their community.  They were charter members of the All Saints Episcopal Church which grew from 30 founding members in 1987 to more than 200 on dedication day, Thanksgiving 1990.

After George’s death in 1993, Susie returned to the Wiregrass. She lived in Dothan, AL until her death in 2014.  From computer language to cancer research, George Joseph and Susie Ezzell Atta broke barriers, saw their dreams come true, and exceeded expectations, following their passion for mathematics and learning, leaving a legacy to inspire students to study mathematics and its applications in science, technology, and medicine.

The ATTA Library of STEM & History is dedicated to their legacy as well as the history of The ATTA region and the accomplishments of regional citizens of distinction.