Dora Zee Ling Endowed Fellowship

This fellowship was established by Dan Ling, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Research, and his partner Lee Obrzut, to honor Dan's birth mother, Dora Zee Ling. Dora Zee Ling was born in Shanghai, China in 1924. She was intellectually brilliant, strong-willed, and determined at a time and in a culture that discouraged such traits in women. She pursued the rigorous education and training to become a physician like her father, even though she suffered from a serious congenital heart defect. She loved children and was dedicated to improving their well-being by doing research on tuberculosis. Dora Zee Ling had an inquiring mind with wide-ranging interests from art and literature to the sciences; she was always concerned about social issues. She died prematurely and unexpectedly of a brain tumor at the age of 39. She was greatly loved by her son and husband.

Daniel T. Ling and Lee J. Obrzut are life partners. Dan came to the Seattle area to help found Microsoft Research. He was one of the leaders who transformed the new laboratory into a world-renowned research institution for computer science. Lee founded a psychological counseling service that helped disadvantaged children in Northern Arizona. He then held senior accounting positions for the State of Arizona.

Both Lee and Dan believe strongly in the value of education and particularly want to help students achieve their educational objectives. They are delighted to be able to fund this fellowship because they recognize the important contributions that Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington makes to the discipline of computer science and the intellectual and economic vitality of the Seattle area.

Academic merit. Normally one year, renewable up to 6.