Mary Maxwell Gates
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| Mary Maxwell Gates | |
| Born | July 5, 1929 Seattle, Washington |
|---|---|
| Died | June 9, 1994 (aged 64) Seattle, Washington |
| Occupation | Teacher, Civic activist, Businessperson |
| Spouse | William H. Gates, Sr. |
Mary Maxwell Gates (July 25, 1929 — June 9, 1994) served 18 years (1975-1993) on the University of Washington board of regents. She was the first female president of King County’s United Way, the first woman to chair the national United Way’s executive committee where she served most notably with IBM's CEO, John Akers, and the first woman on the First Interstate Bank of Washington's board of directors. Mary's son Bill Gates is the co-founder of Microsoft.
Gates was born in Seattle, Washington as Mary Maxwell to James Willard Maxwell (Nebraska, c. 1901 –), a banker, and wife (married c. 1927) Adele Thompson ((probably Enumclaw, King County), Washington, c. 1903 –). [1] She received a degree in education from the University of Washington in 1950. She met and married law student William H. Gates, Sr. at that time. During the early 1950s she taught school. After her husband co-founded the law practice that became Preston Gates & Ellis in Seattle, Gates turned to a variety of civic activities. Gates' volunteer roles in Seattle and King County included serving on the boards of the Children's Hospital Foundation, Seattle Symphony, Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, United Way of King County, and many other nonprofit organizations. She also served as President of the Junior League of Seattle from 1966-1967.
In 1975, Governor Daniel J. Evans appointed Gates to the Board of Regents for her alma mater, where she led the movement on the board to divest the University of Washington's holdings in South Africa to protest apartheid. In addition, Gates served on the UW Foundation Board of Directors, the UW Medical Center Board, and the UW School of Business Administration's Advisory Board. Since her death in 1994, her family has established two endowments in her name at the UW. The UW's Mary Gates Hall, which houses the UW’s Office of Undergraduate Education, is named in her honor.
Beyond the Seattle area, Gates was appointed to the board of directors of the national United Way in 1980.
In the for-profit world, Gates served for many years on the boards of several major corporations, including: First Interstate Bank of Washington; Unigard Security Insurance Group; Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company, which became US WEST Communications; and KIRO Incorporated.
Mary and Bill Gates, Sr. had three children: Bill, Kristi and Libby.
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The obituary of Mary Gates in The New York Times on 11 June 1994 was headlined "Mary Gates, 64; Helped Her Son Start Microsoft," and reported that, "She was ... appointed to the board of the United Way of America; in 1983, she became the first woman to lead it. Right Time, Right Place. Her tenure on the national board's executive committee is believed to have helped Microsoft, based in Seattle, at a crucial time. In 1980, she discussed with John Opel, a fellow committee member who was the chairman of the International Business Machines Corporation," her son's company. "Mr. Opel, by some accounts, mentioned Mrs. Gates to other I.B.M. executives. A few weeks later, I.B.M. took a chance by hiring Microsoft, then a small software firm, to develop an operating system for its first personal computer."
- Gates family
- Portrait of Mary Gates commissioned for the University of Washington
- Junior League of Seattle
