tion at the National Center for Super-computing Applications, she initiated and managed the development of the NCSA Mosaic software project, which subsequently led to Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer browsers.
At Geomagic, she leads a 110-per- son company that is applying computer geometry algorithms to a wide range of applications. Geomagic software is being used to enable mass customization, speed time to market for consumer and industrial products, make it possible for NASA to conduct in-flight inspections on the outside of the space shuttle, and optimize design for everything from racing cars to blimps.
In the following interview, journalist Bob Cramblitt talks to Fu about her challenges as a woman, an immigrant, and CEO of a company at an awkward stage of growth.
I decided to study computer science a year after I arrived in the U.S. I was 25 at the time. I had studied comparative literature and realized I couldn’t make a living with that major. I looked for a field where my literature skills could be put to good use. Computer science involves language and seemed like a lesser evil than other sciences.
I didn’t have the normal background to study math or science, since I had no grade school or high school education. Fortunately in the early 1980s computer science wasn’t a field taught in high school. It wasn’t like today when everybody knows how to use a computer. Then, everyone in college had to start from scratch, so I wasn’t at much of a disadvantage. I was naive and it was definitely a nontraditional way of picking a major. But it turned out to be a good choice.
What obstacles did you face as a chinese immigrant pursuing computer science first academically, then in business? The biggest obstacle in my case was the language barrier. When I came to the U.S., I only knew a few words of English. Business is more challenging for a Chinese immigrant because if you don’t grow up in the U.S. you don’t know American culture.
The first thing was to try to understand the differences between Chinese and American culture. Business views are remarkably similar: They are both large countries, and people from larger countries tend to think bigger rather than provincially. Both countries also value individualism.
The huge difference is in communication. The Chinese language is symbolic and imprecise. I needed to learn how to communicate in a way people in the U.S. could understand. I took classes immigrants don’t normally take in university—American history, culture, sociology. I wanted to understand the society in which I’d live and do business. Lots of immigrants don’t do that when living in foreign country; they tend to hold on strongly to their native culture.
What obstacles did you face as a woman in computer science? I was lucky to grow up in China during a time when men and women were considered equal. I didn’t grow up with a view that a woman is inferior to a man. I also learned later through my Myers-Briggs profile that my thinking pattern and personal preferences are more typical of a man than a woman. I’m more rational and less emotional. I realize that women going into a male-dominated field will always have fewer colleagues, and you have to work harder to be viewed as capable, but I’ve never been too sensitive to those things.
What attributes from your background in china do you think helped you succeed in technology and business? I grew up in a large country with a long history, so I had a wired-in ability to
think big and long term. Being able to live in two different societies for a significant amount of time has also been an asset. I lived in China for 24 years. I had the benefit of a cultural background where I learned more people skills than I probably would have learned if I’d grown up in the U.S.
I was exposed to a lot of atrocities growing up in China that I had to overcome. It gave me more tenacity and the ability to deal with pressure. I developed confidence from bad experiences that everything will work out—you can make it work out. That helps a lot in the business world.
In general, women think broader and are more capable of multitasking. Even with a [Myers-Briggs] profile similar to a male, I was still brought up as a woman with different expectations of how to behave. You can’t escape that.
Being a woman, I think I had more choices. Women are generally less suc-cess-driven and more opportunity-driv-en than men, who are raised to be successful in their careers, build a family, and be the breadwinners. Many women work because they like to, not because they have to. Being raised as a woman gave me more opportunity to explore cutting-edge technology without worrying whether I would be successful. I just followed what interested me.
In business I think my mothering instinct has been valuable. The mother is always the fallback; no job is too small and whatever someone else doesn’t do is her responsibility. Mothers have a stronger sense of duty—they won’t allow anything to fall apart. In general, the mother not only takes care of and loves her children, but disciplines them as well. A lot of principles I follow to raise my child I use in business.
You’re the mother of a teenage daughter with a lot of interests outside of work. What do you think about the philosophy of balancing life and work? I don’t believe in life/work balance, because I never think of home and work as separate things. I’ve always believed in weaving life and work together. Work is a component of your life. I see it like the ying-yang concept, where work
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