I worked at IBM research from 1997 until 2007, after finishing my PhD in compilers and programming languages.
About two weeks after I started working there, she showed up in my office, and introduced herself. She'd heard about a new PL person joining, and she'd gone and gotten my dissertation and read it, so that she could come talk to me about it. Not that my dissertation was anything special: that's just the way that Fran was.
She was an amazing person. Brilliant, and kind, and generous. The world needs more people like her.
About two weeks after I started working there, she showed up in my office, and introduced herself. She'd heard about a new PL person joining, and she'd gone and gotten my dissertation and read it, so that she could come talk to me about it. Not that my dissertation was anything special: that's just the way that Fran was.
She was an amazing person. Brilliant, and kind, and generous. The world needs more people like her.