Editing Lynn Conway (section)

{{Short description|American computer scientist and electrical engineer (1938–2024)}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
<!-- Per WP:MOS, use she/her to refer to Lynn Conway throughout her life.-->
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Lynn Conway
| image             = Lynn Conway July 2006.jpg
| image_size        = 
| alt               = Lynn Conway in front of a white background. She is a middle-aged white woman with reddish blonde hair, wearing a colorful .
| caption           = Conway in 2006
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1938|1|2}}
| birth_place       = [[Mount Vernon, New York]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2024|6|9|1938|1|2}}
| death_place       = [[Jackson, Michigan]], U.S.
| residence         = 
| nationality       = 
| field             = {{ubl
  | [[Computer science]]
  | [[Electrical engineering]]
  }}
| work_institution  = {{ubl
  | [[IBM]] Advanced Computing Systems (1964–68)
  | [[Memorex]]
  | [[Xerox PARC]] (1973–1983)
  | [[DARPA]] (1983–1985)
  | [[University of Michigan]]
  }}
| alma_mater        = [[Columbia University]]
| spouse            = {{Unbulleted list|{{marriage|"Sue" (pseudonym)|1963|1968|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Charles Rogers|2002}}}}
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = {{ubl
  |[[Mead–Conway VLSI chip design revolution]]
  |[[transgender activism]]
  }}
| prizes            = 
| religion          = 
| footnotes         = 
| awards            = {{ubl|
  | [[Harold Pender Award]] (1984)
  | [[John Price Wetherill Medal]] (1985)
  | [[Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award]] (1985)
  | [[National Academy of Engineering]] (1989)
  | [[Computer Pioneer Award]] (2009)
  | [[Computer History Museum]] Fellow (2014)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://computerhistory.org/profile/lynn-conway/ |title=CHM 2014 Fellow "For her work in developing and disseminating new methods of integrated circuit design" |website=Computer History Museum |access-date=April 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703014527/http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Lynn,Conway/ |archive-date=July 3, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>
  | [[IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal]] (2015)
  | [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]] (2023)
  }}
}}

'''Lynn Ann Conway''' (January 2, 1938 – June 9, 2024) was an American [[computer scientist]], [[electrical engineer]], and [[transgender activist]].

In the 1960s, while working at [[IBM]], Conway invented generalized dynamic instruction handling, a key advancement used in [[out-of-order execution]], used by most modern computer processors to improve performance. IBM fired Conway in 1968 after she revealed her intention to undergo a [[gender transition]], which the company apologized for in 2020.

Following her transition, Conway adopted a new name and identity and restarted her career. She worked at [[Xerox PARC]] from 1973 to 1983, where she led the "LSI Systems" group. She initiated the [[Mead–Conway VLSI chip design revolution]] in very large-scale integrated ([[VLSI]]) microchip design, which reshaped the field of microchip design during the 1980s.

Conway joined the [[University of Michigan]] as a professor of [[electrical engineering]] and [[computer science]] in 1985. She retired from active teaching and research in 1998 as [[Professor emeritus#Other designations|professor emerita]]. Conway began publicly discussing her gender transition in 1999 and was a [[transgender activism|transgender activist]] until her death in 2024.