Lynn Conway, computer pioneer and transgender advocate, dies at 86
She made important contributions at IBM, but lost her job because she was convinced she was inhabiting the wrong body. She later fought for transgender rights.
Lynn Conway, a pioneering computer scientist who was fired by IBM in the 1960s after telling its executives that she was transgender, despite her significant technological innovations. — and who received a rare formal apology from the company 52 years later — died June 9 in Jackson, Michigan. She was 86.
Her husband, Charles Rogers, said she died at a hospital from complications of two recent heart attacks.
In 1968, after leaving IBM, Ms. Conway was among the first Americans to undergo sex reassignment surgery. But she kept the secret, living in “stealth” mode for 31 years, out of fear of professional reprisals and concern for her physical safety. She rebuilt her career from the ground up, eventually landing at the legendary Xerox PARC lab, where she once again made important contributions to her field. After publicly revealing her transition in 1999, she became a prominent transgender activist.
IBM apologized to her in 2020, in a ceremony attended by 1,200 employees watched virtually.< /p>
Mrs. Conway was "probably our very first employee to come out," Diane Gherson, then an IBM vice president, told the gathering. “And for that, we deeply regret what you have experienced – and know that I speak for all of us.”
Mrs. Conway's innovations in his field have not always been recognized, both because of his hidden past at IBM and because designing the innards of a computer is a little-known job. But his contributions paved the way for personal computers and cell phones and strengthened the national defense.
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She made important contributions at IBM, but lost her job because she was convinced she was inhabiting the wrong body. She later fought for transgender rights.
Lynn Conway, a pioneering computer scientist who was fired by IBM in the 1960s after telling its executives that she was transgender, despite her significant technological innovations. — and who received a rare formal apology from the company 52 years later — died June 9 in Jackson, Michigan. She was 86.
Her husband, Charles Rogers, said she died at a hospital from complications of two recent heart attacks.
In 1968, after leaving IBM, Ms. Conway was among the first Americans to undergo sex reassignment surgery. But she kept the secret, living in “stealth” mode for 31 years, out of fear of professional reprisals and concern for her physical safety. She rebuilt her career from the ground up, eventually landing at the legendary Xerox PARC lab, where she once again made important contributions to her field. After publicly revealing her transition in 1999, she became a prominent transgender activist.
IBM apologized to her in 2020, in a ceremony attended by 1,200 employees watched virtually.< /p>
Mrs. Conway was "probably our very first employee to come out," Diane Gherson, then an IBM vice president, told the gathering. “And for that, we deeply regret what you have experienced – and know that I speak for all of us.”
Mrs. Conway's innovations in his field have not always been recognized, both because of his hidden past at IBM and because designing the innards of a computer is a little-known job. But his contributions paved the way for personal computers and cell phones and strengthened the national defense.
We are having difficulty retrieving the content of the article.
We are having difficulty retrieving the content of the article. p>
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Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode, please exit and log in to your Times account, or subscribe to the entire Times.
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