Duke alumna Melinda French Gates is consistently listed among Forbes Magazine’s 100 most powerful women.
As a philanthropist and advocate for women and girls, she has dedicated her life to making positive change in the world. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Duke in computer science and economics in 1986 and an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in 1987, Melinda joined Microsoft as a marketing manager and eventually became a general manager, leading the development of many of the company’s multimedia products including Microsoft Word and Expedia.
In 2000, she co-founded the world’s second-largest charitable foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In 2002, the foundation gave Duke $30 million to support the construction of a new science building, now known as the French Family Science Center, and $5 million for student life initiatives. “I’m pleased to be giving back to the university that has given me so much,” French Gates said at the time. “It is my hope that this new state-of-the-art science facility and the student life initiatives will enrich undergraduates’ learning experience.”
Since 1997, the foundation has awarded grants to support numerous other initiatives at Duke focused on global health, financial aid, civic engagement, and scholarship.
In 2015, French Gates founded Pivotal Ventures, an organization focused on accelerating social progress through high-impact investments, philanthropy, partnerships and advocacy. In 2019, she outlined a visionary strategy to position more women in the United States to make decisions, control resources, and shape policies and perspectives. That same year, through Pivotal Ventures, French Gates committed $1 billion over 10 years to expand women’s power and influence in the United States.
In May 2024, she announced her departure from the foundation and the beginning of a new chapter in her philanthropy. As a first step, she announced $1 billion in new spending through 2026 to advance women’s power around the world.
French Gates served as a Duke University trustee from 1996 to 2004. In 2013, she delivered Duke’s commencement address, telling students that “humanity in the abstract will never inspire you in the same way as [the] human beings you meet.
French Gates is the author of the 2019 bestseller The Moment of Lift and the creator of Moment of Lift Books, an imprint publishing original nonfiction by visionaries working to unlock a more equal world.
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honour for her work promoting public health and women’s rights around the world.
