Lynn Conway, a true pioneer, passes away at 86
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Former IBM and Xerox PARC engineer Lynn Conway, who helped shape the way chips are designed, died last weekend at age 86.
The big picture: Conway broke ground both for her contributions to the tech industry and for her gender transition at a time when such a move was rare among professionals.
- In the 1970s, Conway helped author "Introduction to VLSI Systems," a seminal book in the field of chip design that became the standard textbook for a generation of aspiring semiconductor workers.
- The VLSI approach to semiconductors — the acronym stands for Very Large Scale Integration — paved the way for the modern "systems-on-a-chip" that power smartphones, laptops and other devices.
Catch up quick: Conway began her career at IBM Research in 1964; she was fired in 1968 after announcing her plans to transition.
- In 2020, IBM formally apologized and held a public event in her honor.
- After IBM, she joined Xerox's famed Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). After leaving Xerox PARC, Conway went on to work at DARPA and then taught electrical engineering and computer science from 1985 until her retirement in 1998.
What they're saying: Conway's death brought an ourpouring of online appreciation both from technologists, such as former Microsoft Windows boss Steven Sinofsky, and from numerous transgender people in and out of the tech industry for whom Conway was a friend, mentor and inspiration.
- "During a truly impressive life, Lynn Conway broke down barriers for the trans community and pushed the limits of technology through revolutionary work that is still impacting our lives to this day," IBM chief human resources officer Nickle LaMoreaux said in a statement to Axios. "We are humbled by her continuous examples of grace and her advocacy for others."
Conway told me in 2020 that IBM's apology "brought closure" to a dark period in her life.
- "Even better, as I've made friend after friend among today's IBMers, it's felt like I was coming home, home to an IBM that's also come very far since 1998."
The bottom line: Conway's legacy is one of progress for both technology and humanity.
- As I wrote at the time of IBM's apology, "All of us — particularly those leading businesses — can ask what injustices are happening under our noses that we can stop right now, rather than waiting decades to make amends."
Go deeper: The University of Michigan's obituary offers lots of additional detail.
