| Ashawna Hailey (born Shawn Hailey) | |
|---|---|
Ashawna Hailey |
|
| Born | October 8, 1949 Lubbock, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | October 14, 2011 (aged 62) San Jose, California, U.S.[1][2] |
| Residence | San Jose, California and Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii |
| Alma mater | Texas Tech University |
| Occupation | technologist, philanthropist |
| Children | Neal Hailey, Nora Hailey |
Ashawna Hailey (October 8, 1949 – October 14, 2011), born Shawn Hailey, created the HSPICE program which large parts of the worldwide semiconductor industry use to simulate and design silicon chips.[3][2] Her company, Meta-Software, produced compound annual growth rate in excess of 25-30 percent every year for 18 years, and eventually became part of Synopsys, which calls HSPICE "the 'gold standard' for accurate circuit simulation".[3][4][5] In 1973 she created Advanced Micro Devices' first microprocessor, the Am9080, a clone of the Intel 8080, and in 1974, AMD's first nonvolatile memory, the 2702 2048-bit EPROM.[3] Earlier, she built the launch sequencer for the Sprint Anti-Ballistic Missile System for Martin Marietta.[6]
She attended Texas Tech University along with her twin brother Kim, starting her first company while still in college.[3]
Shawn was born a man, but changed her gender to become female and her name to Ashawna after retiring from her career in technology.[6]
As a philanthropist, Ashawna sought to reform government policies on recreational drugs. She donated to the ACLU Foundation, Code Pink, the Drug Policy Alliance, Feeding America,[6] Rainforest Action Network, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition,[7] the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS),[8] and served on the board of MAPS.[9]