What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
My first job would have been baby sitting. The first job after graduating from college was teaching German for a year in a high school in North Dakota, prior to entering graduate school. I learned that I loved languages in general and that I'd like to pursue this course in more depth. I also felt the pride of having some of my students tell me they got accepted in higher level language classes at the colleges they had chosen.

Who is your hero, mentor or person you most admire? Why?
George Washington Carver, who said: "Start where you are, with what you have; make something of that, and never be satisfied." This is the thought most often recurring in my mind since high school "mein Leitfaden." It illustrates that something can be made from most anything, anywhere, by anyone.

What is your favorite book?
"I Know It When I See It" a modern fable about quality, by John Guaspari. I tend to like to read biographies, especially of people from previous centuries.

What advances in your field do you envision over the next 10 years?
Unless politics and national disasters get in the way, the electronic age will change the way we do most everything. It will be an exciting ride.

What do you see as the single most interesting element of your work?
The customer - having the opportunity to listen to what they say, and to help produce solutions that make a difference to people who are trying to accomplish their own goals. My greatest interest and strong skill lies in user requirements gathering and in translating requirements to user interfaces that can define determine product specifications. Too often, we omit that important first step, which has the potential for creativity and leapfrogging competition through innovation. Once this is done, one is in a position to focus on how the users themselves.

What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?
Besides Phi Beta Kappa, the IBM Means Service award; and being the first woman in all of Europe to receive this award for service to customers.

What was your greatest challenge and what did you learn from it?
Getting ahead in a technological field. To be persistent.

What strategies do you use to maintain balance in your life?
Go home on time, eat dinner with the family, take a walk in the evening with my husband and dog, turn to my hobbies after that. My current hobby has been a family history book of nearly 700 pages to be published shortly.

What advice would you give to young women who want to enter your field?
Go for it. This field will need all the talent it can get in the coming years.