Melinda Gates

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Image:TIME cover Persons of the Year 2005.jpg Melinda Gates (born Melinda French on August 15, 1964) is a former Microsoft employee who was the product unit manager of Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Microsoft Encarta, and Microsoft Expedia. In 1994, she married Bill Gates, founder, Chairman, and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft. They have three children, Jennifer Katharine Gates (b. 1996), Rory John Gates (b. 1999) and Phoebe Adele Gates (b. 2002).

Melinda was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, where she was valedictorian of her class at Ursuline Academy of Dallas. She earned bachelor degrees in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and an MBA from Duke in 1987, and served as a member of the Duke University's Board of Trustees from 1996-2003. Today she also attends the Bilderberg Group and holds a seat on the boards of The Washington Post [1] and Drugstore.com. [2]

Along with her husband, Melinda founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable organization. It has given more than US$24 billion to charity. In December of 2005, she along with her husband Bill Gates and musician Bono were named by TIME as Persons of the Year.

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