Melinda Gates is a philanthropist ranked No. 3 in Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list of 2013. She is co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated $28 billion as of 2013. Wife of Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Melinda worked at the company as project manager for Microsoft Bob, Microsoft Encarta and Expedia before marrying Gates.
She was born in 1964 in Dallas, Texas. She is the second of four children.
Education:
Valedictorian from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982.
Bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986
MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in 1987
Marriage and children:
In 1994, she married Bill Gates in a private ceremony held in Lanai, Hawaii.
They have three children: daughters Jennifer Katharine Gates (born 1996) and Phoebe Adele Gates (born 2002), and son Rory John Gates (born 1999).
Work and contributions:
Gates served as a member of Duke University’s board of trustees from 1996 to 2003.
Gates attends Bilderberg Group conferences and holds a seat on the board of directors of the Washington Post company.
She retired from the board of Drugstore.com in August 2006 to spend more time working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
She also chaired The Campaign for Children’s, a $300 million comprehensive fundraising campaign to expand facilities, fund under-compensated and uncompensated care and grow the hospital’s research program to find cures and treatments.
Recognition and awards:
In 2002, Melinda and Bill Gates received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In December 2005, Melinda and Bill Gates were named by Time as Persons of the Year alongside Bono.
Melinda and Bill Gates received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on May 4, 2006 in recognition of their world impact through charitable giving
In May 2006, she was honoured for her work to improve the lives of children locally and around the world with the naming of the Melinda French Gates Ambulatory Care building, at Seattle Children’s
On June 12, 2009, Melinda and Bill Gates received honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge.
In 2013, Melinda was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Duke University as a tribute for her philanthropic commitment.