Born in Hudson Falls on June 15, 1959, Barbara Sabo Joudry, the fifth of six children of Janet and Sabo Sabo, attended Hudson Falls public schools growing up, graduating from Hudson Falls High School in 1977. She continued her education at SUNY Albany, majoring in mathematics, and graduated in 1981.
After graduating Ms. Joudry was employed at Westinghouse in Maryland. She worked there on the radar to be used in F16 fighter jets. The following year she began her career as a cryptanalyst at the Department of Defense. While working for the Department of Defense, she attended Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and received her Master’s degree in 1986.
In 1998 Ms. Joudry, along with the Executive Director of the American Mathematical Society and several renowned mathematics professors, created the Research Experience for Undergraduates Conference to encourage women and minorities to be successful in mathematics programs at the graduate level. That same year, Ms. Joudry was awarded the Federal Women’s Program Award, given annually to an individual woman for achievements in her field as a Federal employee.
In 2008 and 2010, Ms. Joudry served two tours in Afghanistan, supporting the U.S. and Allied troops stationed there. Also in 2010 she was awarded the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal. The citation with the award notes that Ms. Joudry’s work led to the prevention of two terrorist attacks on the homeland and uncovered two international terrorist networks.
Ms. Joudry has two daughters, Natalie, who works for a medical management company, and Emily, an electrical engineer at Dahlgren Naval Base. Ms. Joudry lives in Severna Park, Maryland and when not attending the theater with her daughters or working, she enjoys scuba diving, salsa dancing, competing in Iron Girl Triathlons, gourmet cooking, and traveling the world.