Robert McNees
Lynn Conway, electricial engineer and computer scientist, co-architect of the VLSI design revolution, and transgender activist, was born #OTD in 1938.
She invented Dynamic Instruction Scheduling at IBM, but IBM fired her when they learned she was transitioning.
Photo: Lynn Conway
Robert McNees
Instead of spinning this out into a thread, allow me to point you to Lynn Conwayβs website where you can read her story in her own words:
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/BioSketch.html
Robert McNees
@stargazersmith I expect there will be a bunch of replies to the post from people saying they have her book on the subject on their shelf.
Larry Smith For Harris
@mcnees
Wasn't aware of her.
Christine Burns MBE π³οΈββ§οΈπβ§
@mcnees And hereβs a detailed explanation that I wrote ten years ago when she was being honoured for her VLSI work http://blog.plain-sense.co.uk/2013/02/meeting-lynn-conway.html
RD Hall
@mcnees I hope she was able to find a higher paying position elsewhere that appreciated her knowledge & inventiveness.
ΧΧ Χ ΧΧΧ β’ Hanan Cohen
Since we (at least I) don't want to turn the fediverse into a rage machine, this also needs to be noted.
IBM apologizes for firing a transgender pioneer, 52 years late
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-11-23/ibm-apology-lynn-conway
Robert McNees
@hananc @dweinberger Thanks, was looking for a good story to add.
Karl Heinz Marbaise
Robert McNees
@alixmb9 @paulhart @hananc @dweinberger Thatβs great to hear
Alix Maiden-Baillie (she/her)
@paulhart @mcnees @hananc @dweinberger A friend of mine from college was very well supported by IBM when she transitioned about 10 years ago. I was delighted to run into her in my pharma company's cafeteria a couple years ago when she was onsite consulting on a major IT project with IBM.
Paul Hart
@mcnees @hananc @dweinberger she gave several talks to IBM audiences recently - it seemed to be a very genuine apology and desire to give her a platform to discuss her experiences.
Robert McNees
@christineburns wonderful!
Christine Burns MBE π³οΈββ§οΈπβ§
@sandorspruit @mcnees @adaddinsane Keeping up with my friend Lynn in 2018, via the technology that she and Sophie made possible. We were having a FaceTime call between Manchester England and Ann Arbor, Michigan to discuss the nonsense in our respective countries. The picture was achieved by balancing my iPad on my right shoulder.
adaddinsane (Steve Turnbull)
@sandorspruit @christineburns @mcnees
Glad to be of service π
sandorspruit
@adaddinsane @christineburns @mcnees Hilarious! You have published a small article I wrote, and sent me a cheque to supplement my pocket money π Thanks for that π
sandorspruit
@adaddinsane @christineburns @mcnees and before that, one of the important names behind Acorn Computers. The purchase of my first Acorn Electron, back in the day, made me choose my career π
adaddinsane (Steve Turnbull)
@sandorspruit @christineburns @mcnees
I was the editor of Micro User, Acorn Computing and then Acorn User. π
(But not Electron User - that was Roland Waddilove.)
adaddinsane (Steve Turnbull)
@sandorspruit @christineburns @mcnees
Yay, someone who knows Sophie Wilson - the originator of the ARM chip design.
(What would the bigots do if they knew who designed the heart of the phones...)
sandorspruit
@christineburns @mcnees reading this, my whole life basically changed and took itβs course because of her and Sophie Wilson in the UKβ¦
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