Birthday quote 15th August

Melinda Gates
Melinda Ann Gates (née French), DBE is an American philanthropist, former Microsoft employee, and wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. She is co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She worked at Microsoft, where she was project manager for Microsoft Bob, Encarta and Expedia.

Melinda, a Roman Catholic, attended St. Monica Catholic School, where she was the top student in her class year. She graduated as valedictorian from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982. She earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1987. Shortly after graduating from college, she joined Microsoft and participated in the development of many of Microsoft's multimedia products, including Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Encarta, and Expedia.

She met Bill Gates while working at Microsoft. In 1994, she married Gates in a private ceremony held in Lanai, Hawaii. Shortly thereafter, she left Microsoft to focus on starting and raising her family. Melinda and Bill Gates have three children, two daughters and a son. Melinda served as a member of Duke University's board of trustees from 1996 to 2003. She retired from the board of Drugstore.com in August 2006 to spend more time working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As of 2014, Melinda and Bill Gates had donated $28 billion to the Foundation.

In 2002, Melinda and Bill Gates received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. In December 2005, Melinda and Bill Gates were named by Time as Persons of the Year alongside Bono. Melinda and Bill Gates received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on May 4, 2006, in recognition of their world impact through charitable giving. In November 2006, Melinda was awarded the Insignia of the Order of the Aztec Eagle, together with Bill Gates, who was awarded the Placard of the same order, both for their philanthropic work around the world in the areas of health and education, particularly in Mexico.

In May 2006, in honour of her work to improve the lives of children locally and around the world, Seattle Children's Hospital dedicated the Melinda French Gates Ambulatory Care building. She chaired a campaign for their children's hospital, a $300 million comprehensive fundraising drive to expand facilities, fund under-compensated and uncompensated care, and grow the hospital's research program to find cures and treatments.

Gates was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2013 for her services to philanthropy and international development. On June 12, 2009, Melinda and Bill Gates received honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge. Their benefaction of $210 million in 2000 set up the Gates Cambridge Trust, which funds postgraduate scholars from outside the UK to study at the University.

Born 15th August, 1964 in Dallas, Texas, U.S.

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