Recently, you asked us: What are women accomplishing in tech? What positions do they hold? What does a woman’s career in tech look like in her 50s, 60s and beyond?
We asked our readers who the most accomplished women in this arena were. We received a flood of names of women – your bosses, colleagues and people you admire – who had built impressive resumes and incredible bodies of work over the last couple of decades.
Here are the first 10 notable women over 50 in tech.
Who she is: Carol Gorbitz
Title: Senior Software Architect and Business Analyst, B&L Information Systems
For 30+ years, Carol Gorbitz has excelled at creating technology for manufacturers, says B&L Information Systems Marketing Manager Alexandria Trusov.
In the words of her boss, Vice-President of Research and Development Doug Hinman, Gorbitz “does not have any peers. Carol has the ability to see through complex business issue to the crisp logic of why X needs to happen and then Y.” The company’s product line, a software system for the specific manufacturing sector of metal casting, is critical to many of the small businesses that are the backbone of the manufacturing sector.
Gorbitz has been the architect of two of the main ERPs used within the metal casting industry, impacting the use of software and technology by metal casters for two business generations and helping metal casting manufacturers understand the data available in their businesses and utilize that data in ways the impact the bottom line.
Who she is: Meg Whitman
Title: CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprises
Age: 61
The past president and chief executive officer for Hewlett Packard Company, Meg Whitman led the company’s turnaround and later, the separation into two companies – Hewlett Packard Enterprises and HP Inc. She is now the CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Chair of the Board of HP Inc.
Before HP, Whitman served as president and CEO of eBay Inc., where she oversaw the company’s growth from 30 employees and $4 million in annual revenue to more than 15,000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue in the 10-year period from 1998 to 2008.
Whitman holds degrees from both Princeton and Harvard.
Who she is: Susan Wojcicki
Title: CEO, YouTube
Age: 50
The CEO of YouTube since 2014, Susan Wojcicki worked at Google for 15 years, where she was responsible for designing and building Google’s advertising and analytic products.
At Google, she took part in the development of successful contributions to Google such as Google Images and Google Books. She became senior vice-president of advertising and commerce and led the rise of advertising and analytic products including AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick, and Google Analytics.
Back in the early 2000s, YouTube was a small start-up and was successfully competing with Google’s video service overseen by Wojcicki. Under her supervision, Google made its two largest acquisitions: the $1.65 billion purchase of YouTube in 2006 and the $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick in 2007.
Wojcicki holds an MBA in Economics from UCLA and a Master’s in Economics from the University of California. She was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people.
Who she is: Ginni Rometty
Title: CEO, IBM
Age: 59
The Chairperson, President, and CEO of IBM since January 2012, Ginni Rometty has also held the positions of senior vice-president and group executive for sales, marketing, and strategy at the company.
She has been credited with spearheading IBM’s growth strategy by getting the company into the cloud computing and analytics businesses.
Before working at IBM, she worked at General Motors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and electrical engineering from Northwestern University and honorary doctoral degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Northwestern University.
Rometty was named one of the most influential people in the world by Bloomberg News, and one of the most powerful women in business by Fortune Magazine. Last year, she also made Forbes’ list of the world’s most powerful women.
Who she is: Angela Ahrendts
Title: Senior VP Retail, Apple
Age: 57
Apple’s Senior Vice-President of Retail Angela Ahrendts is responsible for strategy, real estate and development, operations of Apple’s physical stores, Apple’s online store and contact centres. She is credited for integrating Apple’s physical and digital retail businesses to create Apple’s famous (and much emulated) customer experience for over a billion visitors per year.
Prior to joining Apple in 2014, Ahrendts has served as CEO of Burberry, executive vice-president at Liz Claiborne Inc., and president of Donna Karan International.
Angela holds a marketing and merchandising degree and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Ball State University and was named Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire. She was on both Forbes’ list of the most powerful women in the world and Fortune Magazine’s list of the world’s most powerful women in business.
Who she is: Safra Catz
Title: Co-CEO, Oracle
Age: 55
The Chief Executive Officer of Oracle Corporation, Safra Catz previously served as the company’s chief financial officer, executive vice president and senior vice president. She served on the board of directors for HSBC Holdings.
She joined Oracle Corporation in April 1999 and became a member of the company’s board of directors in 2001 and president in 2004. She is credited with supervising the company’s acquisition of rival PeopleSoft for $10.3 billion.
Catz has a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986.
Fortune Magazine and Forbes both put her on their most powerful women in business list. In 2017, she was the highest paid female CEO of any U.S. Company.
Who she is: Ruth Porat
Title: CFO, Alphabet
Age: 60
Just three months after taking Google’s chief financial officer job in 2015, Ruth Porat was also named the chief financial officer of Google subsidiary Alphabet Inc, which deals with technology, life sciences, investment capital, and research companies.
Previously the CFO and executive vice president of Morgan Stanley, Porat holds a master of science degree in industrial relations from London School of Economics and an MBA with distinction from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Who she is: Ursula Burns
Title: Chairwoman, Xerox
Age: 58
The current Chairwoman of Xerox, Ursula Burns was also previously a CEO of the company, making history as the first African-American woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company.
Burns got her start at Xerox in 1980, when she joined as an intern. Over the next 15 years, she went on to hold several executive positions, including vice-president for global manufacturing, senior vice-president of corporate strategic services and president of business group operations and president of Xerox.
Burns, who has a master of science in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University, was named as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world by Forbes.
Who she is: Gwynne Shotwell
Title: President and COO, SpaceX
Age: 53
The President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX, which provides space transport services to both government and commercial customers, Gwynne Shotwell joined SpaceX as the vice president of business development when the company was founded in 2002.
Shotwell is responsible for the day-to-day operations and for managing all customer and strategic relations to support company growth. During her tenure, the company launched the Falcon vehicle family, which brought in approximately $5 billion in revenue.
Prior to joining SpaceX, Shotwell spent more than 10 years in project management for the space systems engineering and technology at the Aerospace Corporation.
Shotwell, who holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics from Northwestern University, was named one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes last year.
Who she is: Mary Meeker
Title: Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Age: 57
A partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mary Meeker focuses on the Internet and new technologies as well as investments in the firm’s digital practice. She leads KP’s Digital Growth Funds, targeting high-growth Internet companies. She has been involved in KP’s investments in Airbnb, Bitstrips, Facebook, Groupon, Houzz, Instacart, Jawbone LegalZoom NextDoor, Pinterest, Ring, Slack, Snap, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stance and Trendyol.
A past managing director at Morgan Stanley, Meeker is also an author of many books and trend reports. She holds an MBA from Cornell University and an honorary doctorate from DePauw. Forbes named her one of the world’s most powerful women.
