March’s Famous Woman in Computer Science and Technology is Jeannette Wing, VP, Head of Microsoft Research International, where she is responsible for labs in Beijing, Bangalore, and Cambridge, UK.
How did you become interested in technology?
I loved math when I was growing up. I became interested in engineering in high school, because it was all about applying math to solve problems in the real world.
What’s your favorite thing about being technical?
Logical thinking and analytic reasoning.
What has been your greatest accomplishment in your career?
My greatest accomplishment is my students—all those I have touched through teaching and research.
What advice would you give to other technical women?
Believe in yourself.
Jeannette M. Wing is VP, Head of Microsoft Research International. On leave from Carnegie Mellon University, she is President’s Professor of Computer Science and twice served as Head of the Computer Science Department. She received her S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 2007-2010 she was the Assistant Director of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation. Wing’s research interests are in trustworthy computing, formal methods, and programming languages and methodology. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, AAAS, ACM, and IEEE.