Thomas Andrew Lehrer (/ˈlɛərər/; April 9, 1928 – July 26, 2025) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater

In 2020 Lehrer publicly revealed that he had been assigned to the NSA; since the mere fact of the NSA’s existence was classified at the time, Lehrer found himself in the position of implicitly using nuclear weapons work as a cover story for something more sensitive

In 1972, Lehrer joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching an introductory course entitled “The Nature of Mathematics” to liberal arts majors—”math for tenors”, according to Lehrer

He told one concert audience, “I don’t like people to get the idea that I have to do this for a living. I mean, it isn’t as though I had to do this. I could be making, oh, $3,000 a year just teaching.”