TELECOMMUNICATION
Hedy Lamarr – Co-invented frequency-hopping spread. Her work laid the foundation for WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS technologies.
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson – Theoretical physicist whose research at Bell Labs enabled breakthroughs in fiber-optic cables, caller ID, and call waiting.
Ada Lovelace – 1843 Created the first computer algorithm. She is widely recognized as the world’s first computer programmer.
Radia Perlman – Known as the “Mother of the Internet." Invented the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), which made Ethernet networks scalable and reliable.
Marian Croak – Developed Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the technology behind internet-based calling (Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp). Holds over 200 patents in telecom and internet technologies.
Laila Ohlgren – Engineer who helped design the first mobile phone systems in the 1970s.
Arlene Harris – Known as the “First Lady of Wireless.” Created the first prepaid wireless service and innovations in mobile safety and accessibility.
Esther Sans Takeuchi – Developed the compact lithium/silver vanadium oxide battery, which became the standard power source for implantable cardiac defibrillators.
Chieko Asakawa – IBM researcher who created voice and screen-reader technologies that made the internet and telecom systems accessible to the visually impaired.
REAL ESTATE AND LENDING
Dottie Herman – CEO of Douglas Elliman, one of the largest residential real estate firms in the U.S., recognized as one of the most powerful women in real estate.
Corrine Simpson – First woman admitted to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in 1910, breaking gender barriers in professional real estate.
Ebby Halliday – Founded Ebby Halliday Realtors, one of the largest independent real estate firms in the U.S., proving women could lead major brokerages.
Barbara Corcoran – Built The Corcoran Group into a powerhouse real estate firm in New York City.
Leona Helmsley – Though controversial, she built a massive real estate empire in New York, demonstrating women’s capacity to dominate commercial property.
Debra Cafaro – CEO of Ventas, a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on healthcare properties, proving women can lead in institutional real estate finance.
Elizabeth J. McCormick – First woman to earn a real estate license in the U.S.; founded the Women’s Real Estate Association of Chicago to empower women in the industry.
Lizzie Magie — Invented The Landlord’s Game, patented in 1904. Unlike the later commercial Monopoly, her game was designed as a teaching tool — especially for young people — to show how property ownership, rent, and monopolies worked in real estate.
Elizabeth J. Phillip – Created a board game called Finance in the 1910s–1920s, which, like Magie’s Landlord’s Game, taught lessons about buying property, borrowing money, and managing debt.