During spring break, Dr. DaJung Woo took a trip to Silicon Valley, CA to visit some tech organizations and learn about their cultures. She met with employees of Apple, scientists at SLAC-Stanford National Laboratory, and her former research collaborator in the urban planning field.  Among those whom she enjoyed meeting was Ms. May Lee (aka “Ms. Purple”), who is a graduate of UTK (Computer Science major, ’88) and currently works as the Marketing Communication Manager at HP. 

 Ms. Purple has served as the UTK Alumni Association’s San Francisco Bay Area Chapter President for many years and also on UT’s Board of Governors in the past. She also won an Accomplished Alumni Award by UT recently.  Dr. Woo got to learn about Ms. Purple’s career that combines her expertise in computer science and her passion in communication and was inspired by Ms. Purple’s positive and enthusiastic attitude toward life. And, the two enjoyed their Chinese dinner at a restaurant owned by the family of the movie director for “Crazy Rich Asians”!

You can read more about Ms. Purple and her inspiring story here https://alumni.utk.edu/s/1341/alumni/interior_alumni.aspx?pgid=11479&gid=2&cid=11485 and can reach out to Dr. Woo if you are curious about her perspective on building careers in tech.