Ashawna Hailey
American computer scientist and philanthropist
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Through SPICE, Microprocessor and Non-volatile memory
Early life and education
Hailey attended Texas Tech University along with her twin brother, Kim Hailey, starting her first company while still in college.
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Career
In 1973, Hailey was part of the team who created Advanced Micro Devices' first microprocessor, the Am9080, by reverse-engineering Intel 8080, and in 1974, AMD's first nonvolatile memory, the 2702 2048-bit EPROM. Earlier, she, with others, built the launch sequencer for the Sprint Anti-Ballistic Missile System for Martin Marietta.
As a philanthropist, Hailey sought to reform government policies on recreational drugs. During her life she donated to the ACLU Foundation, Code Pink, the Drug Policy Alliance, Feeding America, Rainforest Action Network, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, the Marijuana Policy Project, Erowid, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and served on the board of MAPS.
Legacy
After Hailey's death she left a US$10-Million bequest shared between MAPS, the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, and Second Harvest Food Bank. In what its board considered a fitting tribute to Hailey, the Marijuana Policy Project dedicated a million dollars of her bequest to the initiative that for the first time enabled voters to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Colorado. Throughout 2010 until her death, Ashawna provided seed funding to Wild Willpower PAC.