Julie Larson-Green
Julie Larson-Green | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Julie Larson-Green at Microsoft PDC '08 | |
| Born | Julie Larson 1962 (age 61–62) Maple Falls, Washington, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Western Washington University Seattle University |
| Occupation | Executive Vice President Microsoft |
| Employer | Microsoft |
| Spouse | Gareth Green (2 children) |
Julie Larson-Green (born 1962) is the Chief Experience Officer of Microsoft's "My Life & Work" team at Microsoft, where she has worked since 1993.
Larson-Green notably managed the implementation of ribbons in Microsoft Office 2007, replacing the menu-driven interface with context-specific "ribbons" for which she won a technical leadership award in 2013. In addition, she led the efforts to work on a new platform and User Interface metaphor known as the Metro Style shipped as part of Windows 8, in 2012. "User interface is customer service for the computer."[1][2][3][4][5]
Early life
Larson-Green grew up in Maple Falls, in Whatcom County, Washington.[6]
Education and early career
Larson-Green graduated with a degree in business administration from Western Washington University. She got her first job in tech support for Aldus, creator of PageMaker Desktop Publishing Software. A self-taught programmer, Larson-Green completed her Master's in Software Engineering and was then recruited as Development lead at Aldus.
At Microsoft
In 1993, Larson-Green joined Microsoft as a program manager for Visual C++.[4] In Microsoft, user experience became her passion.[citation needed] She oversaw the successful launch of Microsoft operating system, Windows 7. In 1997, she joined the Office team. She led UI design for Office XP, Office 2003, and Office 2007, as seen in her official Microsoft biography. Julie Larson-Green has been Corporate Vice President, Program Management, Windows Client. She has had between 1,200 and 1,400 program managers, researchers, content managers and other members of the Windows team reporting to her. She worked on the user experience for IE 3.0 and 4.0 and then, in 1997, to the Office team to work on FrontPage, where she got her first group program manager job. She also did a stint on the SharePoint Team Services team when SharePoint was known as "Office.Net."[4][7]
In November 2012, Larson-Green was promoted to be the head of all Windows software and hardware engineering, in the wake of the sudden departure of Steven Sinofsky.[8]
Devices and Studios Engineering Group
As part of a Microsoft reorganization in July 2013, Larson-Green was named as the head of the newly formed Devices and Studios Engineering Group. The new division oversees the company's various efforts in hardware, particularly the Xbox One and Surface tablet.[9] Some gamers reacted to the news with comments that were described as misogynistic.[10][11][12][13]
In February 2014, it was announced that Larson-Green would move to the role of Chief Experience Officer of Microsoft's "My Life & Work" team, a move interpreted by many as making way for Stephen Elop, joining Microsoft as part of its acquisition of Nokia's devices business, to become head of the devices organization within Microsoft.[14]
References
- ^ Gara, Tom (July 11, 2013). "Julie Larson-Green: Microsoft's New Hardware Chief, Mother Of The Ribbon". Wall Street Journal (blog). Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ Tate, Ryan (2013-07-11). "The Rise of Julie Larson-Green, the Heir Apparent at Microsoft". WIRED. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ Owen Thomas (November 12, 2012). "Meet the two women now running Microsoft's most important business". businessinsider.com. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ a b c Sean Hollister (November 13, 2012). "Meet Julie Larson-Green, the woman who will lead Windows". theverge.com.
- ^ Austin Carr (January 25, 2014). "Windows 8: The Boldest, Biggest Redesign In Microsoft's History".
- ^ Janet I. Tu (November 13, 2012), "Sinofsky's successor at Microsoft has the people touch", The Seattle Times
- ^ Claudine Beaumont (6 November 2009). "I'm Julie Larson-Green and Windows 7 was my idea". telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "Microsoft Announces Leadership Changes to Drive Next Wave of Products" (Press release). Microsoft. 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
- ^ Bass, Dina. "Bodyslams at Microsoft Prepared Larson-Green for Overhaul" Bloomberg News July 12, 2013
- ^ Greenfield, Rebecca. "Gamers Can't Handle the New Female Head at Xbox" The Atlantic Wire, July 11, 2013
- ^ Ross, Winston (24 July 2013). "Game On: A Woman Takes the Helm of X-Box. Misogyny ensues". Daily Beast. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- ^ Sampson, Ted (12 July 2013). "Sexist gamers can't stand that a woman now heads Xbox". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- ^ Beusman, Callie (12 July 2013). "The New Head of Xbox is a WOMAN. Everyone REMAIN CALM". Jezebel. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- ^ Mary Jo Foley (2014-02-25). "Microsoft Executive VP Julie Larson-Green moves from devices to services". ZDNet. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
