Article

face to watch

Mar/Apr 2002
Article
face to watch
Mar/Apr 2002

'When Kathleen (Schoenfelder) Hebert '85 graduated, Dartmouthdidn't offer a major in computerscience. In fact, the campus hadjust been wired that year, theMacintosh computer was a yearold and something called Windows had just hit the market.Hebert, a math major who hadtaken computer science classestaught by computer pioneer JohnKemeny, found this all very exciting. The Stanford M.B.A. is now aMicrosoft vice president and akey architect in the software giant's success. She began 12 yearsago as a product manager for Microsoft Mail—a tough sell giventhat few people used e-mail atthe time. Hebert was also part ofthe team that helped transformMicrosoft's desktop applicationbusiness from individual programs such as Word, Excel andPower Point into the all-inclusiveOffice Suite. It was a key changein how we all purchase software—and a huge moneymakerfor Microsoft. "We had this strongbelief that writing great softwarecould change the way peoplework," she says. At the helm ofcustomer management products,Hebert is now developing software that will combine businessapplications with the Internet.