Video: Melinda Gates tells Duke grads to reject the ‘Me Generation’ label

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Duke University computer science and economics grad Melinda Gates returned to her alma mater this past weekend to deliver the commencement address, telling grads to reject the notion of Time magazine’s thesis in the piece “The Me Me Me Generation.” “I want to encourage you to reject the cynics who say that technology is flattening… Read More…

‘Slut factories’ and Super PACs: Melinda Gates on ‘Colbert’

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Did Stephen Colbert just get away with calling the Gates Foundation a ‘slut factory?’ Last night the cantankerous faux right-winger took aim at Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on The Colbert Report. Gates appeared on Colbert to talk foreign aid, especially the Foundation’s new initiative to make contraceptives more widely… Read More…

Jeff Bezos, Melinda Gates named to Academy of Arts and Sciences

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Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, philanthropist Melinda Gates and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center director Dr. Larry Corey are among those who’ve been named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a more than 230-year old organization that recognizes scholars, scientists, writers, artists and philanthropic leaders. “Election to the Academy is both an honor for extraordinary accomplishment and… Read More…

Newsmakers 2011: Melinda Gates, ‘impatient optimist’

Melinda Gates, right, tweeted this photo of herself and Stephen Colbert.

Sure, Bill Gates may get more attention, but Melinda Gates is the one who deserves the newsmaker title this year — making a mark in a variety of ways in her role as co-chair and trustee of their philanthropic foundation. On the local front, Melinda Gates was a driving force behind the creation of the… Read More…

Gates keeps the bar high in push for malaria eradication

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Addressing the Malaria Forum in downtown Seattle this morning, Bill Gates sounded at times like he was back in the tech business, trying to get a reluctant team to think long-term and shoot for an ambitious target — using charts and statistical models to make his case. But Gates never encountered a challenge this big… Read More…

An ‘impatient’ Melinda Gates joins Twitter, tops 17,000 followers in a day thanks to Tweet from BillG

Melinda Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates joined Twitter in January 2010, and has quickly assembled an audience of some 3.5 million followers. Now, Gates’ wife, Melinda, is joining the short-form communication channel. And — thanks to to a Tweet from her hubbie — she’s already attracted some 17,450 followers even though she’s just posted four Tweets to… Read More…