Sharon Menard

Sharon Menard (* 1934 ) is an American mathematician and computer scientist . For almost forty years she was involved in the advancement of computers and telecommunications .

Life and research

Menard graduated from the then Carnegie Tech (now: Carnegie Mellon University ) in 1956 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , where the first IBM computer arrived on campus in 1956 . She received an apprenticeship from IBM where she learned the fields of computer engineering and computer programming and began her career with systems evaluation, fault analysis, maintenance and diagnostic programming of air defense systems. This work was a stepping stone to her career in computer applications, cutting edge technology, and research. During her time at IBM, she studied whether computers could be used for a variety of purposes, from heart monitoring and heart diagnostics to automating a steel mill. She developed automated approaches to computerized map creation for the US Army and worked with the IBM sales organization to provide technical support for computerized flight reservation systems and messaging systems. In 1962 she became chief programmer for the IBM pavilion at the 1963 World's Fair in New York City . She was one of only three women working in technical positions in IBM's Kingston Military Products Division at the time. She became one of the most senior women in technical management at IBM. After 13 years, she left IBM and founded an education consultancy to offer women and minorities further opportunities in the education system. The US Department of Education supported her research and published the product of the project, a book called How High the Sky? How Far the Moon? An Educational Program for Girls and Women in Math and Science ". In the early 1980s she worked in the field of human-computer interface design for Bell Labs and a computer graphics start-up. She then worked for one of the newly founded company of US West at US West Advanced Technology. Here she was technical manager for system architecture and technology forecasting. In 1989 she founded the Information Networking Institute (INI), the country's first research and education center for information networks. She retired in 1993 and became the first vice chair of the planning committee in Boulder County , Colorado .

Publications

Transportation systems in growth management, 1979
A very special book: a compendium of sex desegregation strategies and techniques, Women's Educational Equality Act Program / US Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare, 1977
Sex role stereotyping in the Boulder school system: a report by the Education Task Force of the Boulder Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), 1974

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Menard, Sharon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American mathematician and computer scientist
DATE OF BIRTH	1934