Mary Ann Horton

Mary Ann Horton

Mary Ann Horton (born November 21, 1955 in Richland , Washington as Mark R. Horton) is an IT specialist and IT trainer who is committed to transgender issues. She is one of the pioneers of Usenet and the Internet . Horton contributed to the Berkeley BSD UNIX , especially the vi editor and the Terminfo database, and was instrumental in the growth of Usenet in the 1980s.

education

Horton grew up on the US Pacific Coast in the northwestern United States. In 1970, Horton became interested in computer programming, moved to San Diego County in 1971 and stayed in California . Horton graduated from San Dieguito High School in 1973 and received a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Southern California in 1976 . Horton then obtained a Master of Computer Science degree from the University of Wisconsin . In 1978 she moved to the University of California at Berkeley where she received her Ph.D. in computer science.

In Wisconsin , Horton learned UNIX and programmed a UNIX text editor. In Berkeley she worked on the development of the Berkeley UNIX, in particular the VI text editor. As part of her dissertation, she presented a syntax-controlled language editor with a text-based input mask. This technology was later used in the field of computer-aided software engineering ( CASE).

In 1980, Horton brought the Usenet A messaging system to Berkeley and maintained its growth from an original network of only 10 locations to over 5000 locations in 1987. In addition to access to UUCP , it provided access to Berknet and the military ARPANET and set the first Gateways between some popular ARPANET mailing lists and the usenet “fa” newsgroups. In 1981 she created B News together with student Matt Glickman as part of a spring break project, which enabled Usenet to continue growing significantly.

Working with UNIX and the Internet

In 1981, Horton joined Bell Labs' engineering department in Columbus , Ohio . At Bell Labs she ported Berkeley UNIX to UNIX System V and in 1987 worked at the Bell Labs data center to provide Bell Labs with Usenet and email services. Horton introduced the first moderated newsgroups, including Talk.origins, and distinguished them with name tags like “mod” or “announce,”.

The originally very complex Usenet addresses were simplified with the introduction of Internet domains in 1983, Horton's publication "What is a domain?" contributed to their spread.

In 1984 Horton brought together some volunteers to work on the UUCP Mapping Project, which promoted regional, geographical distinctions. In the mid-1980s, these included the early domain names .ARPA, .UUCP, .CSNET, and .BITNET as overarching domains. In 1986 Horton represented UUCP at a conference in Berlin. The suggestion by Ken Harrenstein from ARPANET to introduce COM, EDU, ORG, NET, GOV and MIL as top level domains was accepted and is considered the predecessor of ICANN . Horton took over and implemented the name changes in the UUCP area.

In 1990 Horton successfully published a book on the C programming language in a portable version. and was involved in early firewall and messenger systems. In 2000 she became a senior executive in the company's internal mail system at Avaya, before moving to Bank One in 2002 . In 2007 she found a job at Sempra Energy in San Diego, California, her adopted home.

Transsexuality

Horton is transgender . In 1987 she called herself Mary Ann. Horton founded Columbus' first transgender support group, the Crystal Club , in 1989 . In 1997 Horton became a member of EQUAL , the LGBT workforce initiative. Being able to appear openly in the workplace was a significant step forward and economic advantage for her and was supported by management through the Equal Opportunity (EO) directive at Lucent. No large corporation had previously recognized transgender people .

At the time, Horton identified as a crossdresser , sometimes posing as Mark and sometimes as Mary Ann. When the EO company policy was published, Horton worked primarily as Mark, but occasionally also as Mary Ann. She was the first known crossdresser who was successfully employed in a large company and was committed to the recognition of her gender identity in the regulations of all companies in which she worked.

present

Horton has two sons from a previous relationship and currently resides in Poway , California with partner Ramona Nash.

Mary Ann Horton owns Red Ace Technology Solutions , a company that provides web hosting services to organizations and small businesses. She is also a consultant on transgender workplace issues and UNIX and Internet technology.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael and Ronda Hoods: Netizens . IEEE Computer Society, 1997, ISBN 0-8186-7706-6 , p. 52.
2. ↑ Hoods, page 60
3. ^ MR Horton: What is a Domain? Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: USENIX Association Conference Proceedings . June 1984, pp. 368-372. Retrieved September 9, 2009  .
   Originally: MR Horton: What is a Domain? Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. In: USENIX Association Conference Proceedings . June 1984, pp. 368-372.
4. ↑ UUCP Mapping Project ( Memento of the original from December 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Craig Partridge: The Technical Development of Internet Email Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( PDF ) In: IEEE Computer Society (Ed.): IEEE Annals of the History of Computing . 30, No. 2, Berlin, April-June 2008, ISSN 1934-1547 , pp. 3-29. Retrieved November 29, 2008.   
6. ^ Mark R. Horton: Portable C Software . Prentice Hall , 1990, ISBN 0-13-868050-7 .
7. ^ The Crystal Club
8. ^ EQUAL at Lucent Technologies
9. ↑ Mary Ann's first day on the job as Mary Ann
10. ↑ Lucent Technologies Protects Transgendered Employees
11. ^ Red Ace Technology Solutions
12. ^ Red Ace Gender Services

Web links

• Mary Ann Horton's website
• Red Ace Technology Solutions