Alumni in Action—Sharon Menard: At the Vanguard of Computer Programming
Reprinted from Mellon College of Science News, March 2007. Posted with permission of the Mellon College of Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
She's photographed lions, elephants and blue wildebeests
in the Serengeti, hiked in the Canadian Rockies, and
snorkeled in the company of a giant green sea turtle on
the Great Barrier Reef. For alumna Sharon Menard, life is full of
excitement, and not just in the great outdoors. In the 1960s when
women were significantly underrepresented in such positions, she
rose through the engineering ranks to become one of only a handful
of women in high-ranking technical management at IBM.
When Menard ('56) was an undergraduate mathematics
major at what was then Carnegie Tech, she had aspirations of
pursuing graduate work in astronomy. But a chance encounter at
Carnegie Tech's job placement center had her interviewing with
IBM. Even though the computer boom was still well beyond the
horizon, Menard had the foresight to take the position with IBM,
where she mastered the burgeoning fields of computer engineering
and programming. Thanks to her IBM training, Menard had
the opportunity to be on the ground floor of her profession.
A New Age of Computing
Menard began her career performing system evaluation, failure
analysis, maintenance and diagnostic programming on air
defense systems. This work was a stepping-stone to her career in
computer applications, leading-edge technologies, and research.
While at IBM, she investigated whether computers could be
used for diverse purposes, ranging from heart monitoring and
diagnosis to steel mill automation. Menard developed automated
approaches to the computerized production of maps for the U.S.
Army and worked with the IBM sales organization, providing
technical support at the forefront of computerized airline reservation
and message systems. In 1962, she became the chief
programmer on a Russian translator exhibit for the IBM pavilion
at the 1963 World's Fair in New York City.
Menard's is an impressive resume, to be sure. But perhaps
it's even more impressive considering that she was one of only
three women working in technical positions in the IBM Kingston
Military Products Division at that time. In fact, in 1956 the IBM
public relations department showcased Menard — a woman in
engineering — for an internal publication, and her picture appeared
in an IBM college-recruitment brochure. Ultimately, she
became one of the highest-ranking women in technical management
at IBM.
An Advocate for Education
After 13 years, Menard left IBM and founded an educational
consulting company to further opportunities for women and
minorities in the educational systems. In particular, she was
interested in improving math and science instruction, which
she felt was faltering in the public schools. The U.S. Department
of Education supported Menard's research and published
the project's product, a book titled, "How High the Sky? How
Far the Moon? An Educational Program for Girls and Women
in Math and Science." The book, published in the late 1970s, is
still relevant today, according to Menard, who feels that women
in math and science still have a long way to go to achieve parity.
In the early '80s, Menard worked in the field of human-computer
interface design at Bell Labs and at a computer graphics
start-up company. Shortly after AT&T Bell Laboratories broke
into several spin-offs, including BellSouth and US West, Menard
began working at one of US West's newly formed companies
— US West Advanced Technology. Initially, Menard was a technical
manager in system architecture and technology forecasting.
Menard was also instrumental in persuading US West to
become an industrial affiliate of Carnegie Mellon's School of
Computer Science and Software Engineering Institute. In 1989,
when Carnegie Mellon launched the Information Networking
Institute (INI), the nation's first research and education center
devoted to Information Networking, Menard was among the
first class of students in the INI's Advanced Technology
Innovation (ATI) program, a technical training program for
mid-level managers from the Bell Companies. A year after
graduating, she returned to Carnegie Mellon to direct the ATI
program for one year.
Community Leader and World Traveler
After nearly forty years of contributing to the advancement of
computing and telecommunications, Menard retired in 1993.
Not one for idleness, she keeps busy during retirement. She is
currently first vice chair of the Planning Commission in Boulder
County Colorado, where she makes her home. She credits a
course at Carnegie Mellon for sparking this lifelong interest in
civic affairs, political matters and history. Menard also credits
Carnegie Mellon for giving her the skills to solve problems and
succeed in a world that by nature constantly changes. She has
used those skills throughout her professional and personal life,
and continues to seek opportunities to learn something new,
whether it be regional and urban planning, or South Asian history
to augment what she picked up on during one of her latest trips
to Bhutan.
Photo Credit: Photograph used with permission of Sharon Menard