Melinda French Gates Biography
Melinda French Gates was born in Dallas in 1964, studied at Duke and worked at Microsoft from 1987 to 1996 2.
Born in Dallas
Melinda Ann French was born on 15 August 1964 in Dallas, Texas, the second of four children of Raymond Joseph French Jr., an aerospace engineer, and Elaine Agnes Amerland, a homemaker 2.
Education
She was valedictorian of Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982. At Duke University she earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics in 1986 and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business in 1987 2.
Microsoft
She joined Microsoft in 1987 and worked on products including Encarta, Publisher, Bob, Money, Works and Word. She became general manager of Information Products in the early 1990s and left in 1996 2.
Marriage and the Gates Foundation
She began dating Bill Gates in 1987 and married him in 1994. She co-chaired the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from 2000 to 2024 23.