Mary Fernández facts for kids

Mary Fernández is an American computer scientist. She helps women and minorities get involved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). STEM includes subjects like computers, engineering, and math. She is the president of MentorNet. This group connects experienced people (mentors) with students. They help students learn and grow in their careers.

Her Education Journey

Mary Fernández started college at Brown University. This was in the early 1980s. She first studied engineering. Then, she took a computer science class. Her teacher was Andries van Dam. She loved the class and decided to change her major.

She earned two degrees from Brown University. These were her bachelor's and master's degrees. Later, she went to Princeton University. In 1995, she earned her Ph.D. from Princeton. A Ph.D. is the highest university degree.

Her Career in Tech

In 1995, Mary Fernández joined AT&T. This is a big technology company. She started as a senior technical staff member. She worked there for seventeen years. She became the Assistant Vice President of Information and Software Systems Research.

At AT&T, she worked on new technology. This technology helped handle special computer data. It was called semi-structured XML. She also worked on a computer language called XQuery.

Helping Others in STEM

In 1998, Mary Fernández joined MentorNet. This organization helps students in STEM fields. It matches them with mentors. These mentors guide students in their studies and careers.

She joined MentorNet's board of directors in 2009. In 2011, she became the board chair. She became the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) in 2013. In 2014, MentorNet joined another group. It became part of the Great Minds in STEM non-profit. Mary then became the president of MentorNet.

Mary also helped other important groups. She was a secretary and treasurer for ACM SIGMOD. She was also an editor for ACM Transactions on Database Systems. She is currently on the board of the Computing Research Association.

Awards and Recognition

In 2011, Mary Fernández received a special award. It was the Great Minds in STEM Technical Achievement in Industry Award. This award recognized her important work in the technology industry.