Q: What's happening in cryptography?

[Eric Fogleman <Eric.Fogleman@analog.com>]

I'm interested in finding out what is currently happening in
cryptography.  My (basement-level) knowledge of it has come from heavy
mathematics-oriented texts; these books and articles make it seem as
though all of the work in cryptography is done by Ph.Ds at
universities.  I suspect that's not the whole story...

Questions:

- What companies, universities are doing work in cryptography?  Are
there people who get paid to "do cryptography" that don't work for the
NSA?  If so, where do they work?

- Does cryptography fall under mathematics or computer science at most
universities?

- Are the real developments in cryptographic algorithms coming from the
universities, from companies or from cypherpunks?

- Any suggestions on what to read, who to talk to, what to experiment
with to move up from basement-level knowledge of cryptography?

Thanks...
Eric Fogleman