Trailblazer Who Paved the Way
Adele Goldberg
Computer Scientist - Xerox PARC
“Don’t ask whether you can do something, but how to do it.”
Her Story
Adele Goldberg co-developed Smalltalk and the graphical user interface concepts at Xerox PARC that became the direct ancestor of the Macintosh interface and, by extension, nearly every modern computer interface. She later became a strong advocate for computer science education.
How She Got Into Tech
She studied information science and joined Xerox PARC's Learning Research Group in the 1970s, working alongside Alan Kay's team on object-oriented programming and interface design.
A Day in Her Work
She designed and documented Smalltalk's programming environment and graphical interface concepts, work that involved constant iteration on how people should visually interact with a computer.
Proudest Achievement
Co-developing Smalltalk and the GUI concepts that Steve Jobs saw during his 1979 visit to PARC, concepts that directly shaped the Macintosh.
Biggest Challenge
Ensuring proper attribution for PARC's research contributions as the ideas were commercialized and popularized by other companies.
Advice for the Next Generation
Push to make sure your ideas and contributions are properly credited, and don't let others rewrite the origin of your work.
More
Later became a leading advocate for computer science education and co-founded a nonprofit focused on the field.
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