Women Who Inspire Us
Software

Irene Greif

Among learned geeks, Irene Greif is regarded as the founder of the field of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), and she directs Lotus Research with a focus on CSCW results. This technology is essential for allowing multiple parties to collaborate on a single document simultaneously and remotely.

At Lotus Greif invented the Version Manager which analysts have consistently designated as the most significant group-enabling feature in spreadsheets. As a Lotus Fellow she is recognized not only as a leader within her company but also for the tech industry at large. Greif is one of few women who have earned status as Lotus Fellow.

Greif is a former faculty member of computer science at University of Washington and of EECS at MIT, where she received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science. She headed a research group in the MIT Laboratory for computer science which developed shared calendar, co-authoring and real-time collaboration systems. She is a fellow of both the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Association of Computing Machinery (ACM).