Temple Grandin, was diagnosed with autism as a child, at the age of two, she had no speech and all the signs of severe autism. Many hours of speech therapy, intensive teaching, and mentoring led Temple to where she is today. Come hear from Temple herself and get a view into how her mind works and why we in tech need to empower “all the geeky minds!”

Make sure to listen to her TED talk and watch Temple Grandin the movie, where Claire Danes portrays Temple.

Temple Grandin Bio:
Temple Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and she has been a pioneer in improving the handling and welfare of farm animals.
Temple’s achievements are remarkable because she was an autistic child. At age two she had no speech and all the signs of severe autism. Many hours of speech therapy, and intensive teaching enabled Temple to learn speech. As a teenager, life was hard with constant teasing. Mentoring by her high school science teacher and her aunt on her ranch in Arizona motivated Temple to study and pursue a career as a scientist and livestock equipment designer. Dr. Grandin was awarded her Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989 and is currently a Professor at Colorado State University.

Tara Dalzell Bio:
Tara Dalzell is SUSE’s Regional Director for the West; responsible for all customer engagements. She is also one of the ambassadors for SUSE’s Women in Technology employee network. Tara has held multiple positions within her 21-year career at SUSE. She started at Novell as an individual contributor and moved to the SUSE line of business in 2011. Tara has received multiple accolades and awards for top performance as a sales executive and most recently received an Inspirational Leadership award.