Marie Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist, campaigner for women's rights and pioneer in the field of birth control. She was the wife of Humphrey Verdon Roe, with whom she founded the first birth control clinic in Britain. Stopes edited the newsletter Birth Control News which gave explicit practical advice. Her sex manual Married Love, which she wrote while legally a virgin, was controversial and influential, while her book, Wise Parenthood, was written before she'd become a parent. She was never in favor of abortion, arguing that prevention of conception was sufficient.

Marie was born in Edinburgh, the daughter of Henry Stopes, a brewer, engineer, architect and palaeontologist and the Shakespeare scholar and women's rights campaigner Charlotte Carmichael Stopes. Both her parents were members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science—where they had met—and Marie was brought to meetings where she met the famous scholars of the day. She was at first home schooled, then from 1892 to 1894 she attended St. George's School in Edinburgh. Stopes was later sent to the North London Collegiate School, where she was a close friend of Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn.

Melinda French Gates (born Melinda Ann French; August 15, 1964) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the wife of Bill Gates. She is the co-founder and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a former unit manager for several Microsoft products such as Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Encarta, and Expedia.

Melinda was born in Dallas, Texas. She was the second of four children born to Raymond Joseph French, Jr., an engineer, and Elaine Agnes Amerland, a homemaker. She has an older sister and two younger brothers. Gates, a Roman Catholic, attended St. Monica Catholic School, where she was the top student in her class year. She graduated as valedictorian from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982. Gates earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1987.

Shortly thereafter, she joined Microsoft and participated in the development of many of Microsoft’s multimedia products including Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Encarta, and Expedia.