Melinda French Gates

Melinda Ann French was born on August 15, 1964, in Dallas, Texas. She is the second of four children born to Raymond Joseph French Jr., an aerospace engineer, and Elaine Agnes Amerland, a homemaker. She has an older sister and two younger brothers. French Gates, a Catholic, attended St. Monica Catholic School, where she was the valedictorian of her class. At age 14, French Gates was introduced to the Apple II by her father and Mrs. Bauer, a school teacher who advocated teaching computer science at the all-girls school. It was from this experience she developed her interest in computer games and the BASIC programming language. French Gates graduated as valedictorian from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982. She earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1987. At Duke, French Gates was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Beta Rho Chapter. == Career ==

Early career and Microsoft French Gates's first job was tutoring children in mathematics and computer programming. After graduation, she became a marketing manager with Microsoft, being responsible for the development of multimedia products. These included Microsoft Cinemania, Encarta, Publisher, Bob, Money, Works and Word. She worked on Expedia, which became one of the most popular travel booking websites. In the early 1990s, French Gates was appointed as general manager of Information Products, a position which she held until 1996. She left Microsoft that year, reportedly, to focus on starting a family. She attends the annual Bilderberg Group conference and has held a seat on the board of directors of Graham Holdings (formerly The Washington Post Company) since 2004. She was also on the board of directors at Drugstore.com but left in August 2006 to focus on philanthropic projects. On May 13, 2024, French Gates resigned as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to be effective June 7. The foundation was subsequently renamed the Gates Foundation, with Bill Gates as its sole chair. In partnership with Lever for Change, an affiliate of the MacArthur Foundation French Gates announced a 2024-25 grant competition called Action for Women's Health, which aims to provide $250 million in grants to fund women's health initiatives. Writing In 2019, French Gates debuted as an author with the book The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. Former president Barack Obama starred in a comedy sketch to promote it. The book highlights the failure to acknowledge women's unpaid work, drawing on feminist economist Dame Marilyn Waring's book If Women Counted. In 2025, she published the book The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward. ==Women in technology==

French Gates's experience of a male-dominated workplace at Microsoft inspired her to encourage more women in the computing field. In September 2016, she announced her desire to increase diversity in the workplace, especially in the technology industry, stating: "Every company needs technology, and yet we're graduating fewer women technologists. That is not good for society. We have to change it." French Gates also spoke about this topic at the 2017 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, an annual series of conferences. ==Awards and recognition==

In 1998, Melinda and Bill Gates were each honored with an American Library Association Honorary Membership. 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 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 November 2006, French Gates was awarded the Insignia of the Order of the Aztec Eagle, together, with Bill, who was awarded the Placard of the same order, both for their philanthropic work around the world in the areas of health and education, particularly in Mexico, and specifically in the program "Un país de lectores". in Seattle In May 2006, in honor of her work to improve the lives of children locally and around the world, Seattle Children's Hospital dedicated the Melinda French Gates Ambulatory Care building at Seattle Children's (formerly Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center). She chaired a campaign for the hospital to fundraise $300 million to expand facilities, fund under-compensated and uncompensated care, and grow the hospital's research program to find cures and treatments. In 2007, French Gates received an honorary doctorate in medicine from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2009, she and her then-husband received honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge. Their benefaction of $210 million in 2000 set up the Gates Cambridge Trust, which funds postgraduate scholars from outside the UK to study at the university. Lastly, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Duke University, in 2013, in honor of her philanthropic commitment. She has been repeatedly recognized, by Forbes in its annual list of the 100 Most Powerful Women, ranking #3 in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017, #4 in 2012 and 2016, #5 in 2020 and 2021, and #6 in 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2022, #10 in 2023. She was awarded the UCSF medal in 2013. French Gates was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2013, for services to philanthropy and international development. In recognition of the foundation's philanthropic activities in India, Bill and Melinda, jointly, received India's third-highest civilian honor, Padma Bhushan, in 2015. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded French Gates and her husband with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for their philanthropic efforts. In 2017, President François Hollande awarded France's highest national honor to French Gates and her husband, for their charitable efforts, i.e. as Commander of the Legion of Honour. That year, she was awarded the Otto Hahn Peace Medal 2016 of the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN), Berlin-Brandenburg, "for outstanding services to peace and international understanding" in the historic Berlin Town Hall. That year, French Gates was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 12 in the list of 200 Most Influential Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs Worldwide. In June 2024, she delivered the Commencement address at Stanford University. == Political activity ==

After divorcing Bill Gates, French Gates became a prominent megadonor to the Democratic Party, with a focus on abortion rights. In the lead-up to the 2024 US presidential election, she donated over $10 million to Democratic causes. ==Personal life==

, in 2009 Melinda began dating Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates in 1987, after meeting him at a trade fair in New York. In 1994, she married Gates in a private ceremony held in Lānai, Hawaii. They have three children. The family maintained a home in an earth-sheltered mansion overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. The family also owned an oceanfront residence in Del Mar, California. In May 2021, after 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates announced their decision to divorce. According to The Wall Street Journal, Melinda had been meeting with divorce lawyers since at least October 2019, after Bill's business dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became public. Although the couple did not have a prenuptial agreement, although the full details of the financial settlement have not been disclosed. The divorce was finalized on August 2, 2021. In March 2022, Melinda said that she and Bill were "friendly" but not "friends". In November 2022, she was reported to be dating former Fox News correspondent Jon Du Pre. In April 2024, a spokesperson quashed rumors that French Gates and Du Pre had become engaged, confirming that the two were no longer dating. French Gates became a grandmother for the first time in March 2023, when Jennifer gave birth to a daughter. French Gates is a practicing Catholic. In 2025, French Gates went public with a new relationship with Philip Vaughn. ==Published works==

• The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World (2019) • The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward (2025) ==References==