June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, and today LSC celebrates the achievements of Lynn Conway, a pioneering computer scientist, engineer, and transgender woman.

Born on January 2, 1938 in Mt. Vernon, NY, Lynn Conway’s first scientific passion was astronomy. She enrolled at MIT in 1959 to pursue a degree in physics. Her first attempt to transition during college resulted in abundant social backlash. With limited social and medical support available, Conway dropped out of MIT in her senior year. After some time, she returned to academics at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science, earning her B.S. in 1962 and M.S.E.E. degree in 1963 in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

After college, Conway was hired at IBM Research, working with the architecture team to create an early supercomputer. By 1967, Conway was able to receive counseling and began hormone replacement therapy. Her case was the first of its kind at IBM. Due to discriminatory practices at the time, IBM fired her in 1968 when they became aware of her transition. (IBM issued a formal apology to her in 2020–yes, 52 years later.)

By 1973, Conway began work at Xerox PARC where she developed her most influential inventions and co-authored Introduction to VLSI Systems which became the standard textbook to teach computer chip design at the time. In 1978, Conway returned to MIT as an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science. Throughout her career in the 1980s and ‘90s, her inventions allowed for cheaper, more efficient production and testing of designs. Her methods in the field spread rapidly throughout the industry, which resulted in an explosion of tech startups. She received many awards for her work, including from the Society of Women Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and an honorary doctorate from Trinity College. Conway began to teach at the University of Michigan in 1985 as associate dean of engineering.

She retired from teaching and research in 1998 after a 34-year career. Throughout this time, following her firing at IBM, Conway had been in “stealth mode,” not revealing her transgender identity to others unless absolutely necessary. After retirement, however, her story came to light, and was published in Scientific American and the Los Angeles Times. In preparation for these publications, Conway began coming out to her colleagues and friends. She later said “From the 1970s to 1999 I was recognized as breaking the gender barrier in the computer science field as a woman, but in 2000 it became the transgender barrier I was breaking." Conway became an outspoken activist for transgender rights, continuing to receive awards for her work in the computer engineering field, and also for her work as an advocate.

As the National Engineering Academy’s President John L. Anderson put it: “Lynn Conway is not only a revolutionary pioneer in the design of VLSI systems… but just as important, Lynn has been very brave in telling her own story, and her perseverance has been a reminder to society that it should not be blind to the innovations of women, people of color, or others who don’t fit long outdated—but unfortunately, persistent—perceptions of what an engineer looks like.”

Lynn Conway passed away early this month, on June 9, at the age of 86 at her home in Jackson, Michigan.

This post was written by Rowan Kopishke, a STEM Educator at LSC. Rowan has their degree in Behavioral Biology from Boston University. Their favorite animal at LSC is the naked mole rat.

Celebrate All Scientists,  Lynn Conway