MizzouMade Talk with Nancy Thompson Tipton

Immediately after graduating from the University of Missouri in 1944, Nancy moved to Washington D.C. to serve in the U.S. Army in World War II. As a “code girl,” Nancy spent hours behind the scenes of wartime intelligence cracking secret codes. The codes Nancy and her fellow cryptanalysts deciphered help lead the U.S. to victory, but they were sworn to secrecy. Only recently could these code breakers break their silence.

Nancy and her husband formed the first Mizzou alumni chapter in Colorado back in the early 1950s. At the time, the chapter had less than 30 members. Today, nearly 6,000 Mizzou alumni live in Colorado. When the chapter established our scholarship endowment in 2015, Nancy was among the first donors, and she has continued to donate regularly to help provide scholarships to Colorado students. This year, we’re awarding one of those students our very first Nancy Thompson Tipton Scholarship.

The Rocky Mountain Tigers are proud to host this hour-long virtual Women’s History Month celebration where Nancy will share her story with Jennifer Meckles, BJ ‘11, KUSA-TV/9NEWS anchor/reporter. We’ll also hear from executive committee members from the Griffiths Leadership Society for Women, a nationwide network of undergraduates and alumnae leaders connected by their ties to Mizzou.

This is a free event, with a suggested donation of $10 to the RMT Scholarship Endowment.