I enjoy going through those slides together and kind of learning. My eldest daughter is in medical school now. They’re all way more sociable than I am, which means you inherit some from your mother, to have a more balanced personality.Īnyway, it’s been fun going through their educational experience. One of them is definitely nerdy, but more in history, science, and economics, and not math and computer science, which is probably good. They were also very lucky to get a good education. How was that experience?īILL GATES: Well, you don’t want to try to make your kids do the same things you did. You experienced mathematics through the eyes of your children. JESSIE WOOLLEY-WILSON: Well, I’d like to go ahead a few years and think about Bill Gates as a parent. Even when I went off to college, he kept saying, “We’re going to miss this opportunity.” So he moved out to Boston to encourage me to drop out, and he succeeded. My cofounder (of Microsoft), Paul Allen, was two years ahead of me, and he kept pushing me. No, I had a really, almost idyllic high school experience, including the early exposure to computers. I never got around to talking to them, but I was planning on it. I put lots of great women into my classes. And then I did the school scheduling, decided who would be in what class. When I was 13, they put a computer terminal in, and the teachers found it confusing. I developed a view that math was fun and interesting. I went to a good public school through sixth grade, and then in seventh grade, my parents decided I should go to a private school. What made you fall in love with mathematics, and how did it impact your childhood?īILL GATES: Well, I was very lucky. So we get to talk about mathematics with you today, and I’m excited about that.īut before we talk about what you’re doing in the Foundation and mathematics, I’d like to talk about Bill Gates as a kid. Even before COVID, though, one thing that hasn’t changed much is U.S. He died unexpectedly from an injury and septicemia in January 2020.JESSIE WOOLLEY-WILSON: It’s been some years since you and I shared a stage together, and the world has changed dramatically. ![]() ![]() With the onset of land reform, Roger covered many aspects of what actually happened in bygone times which perhaps have coloured our present perceptions, and he pulled no punches. Roger Webster had an uncanny nose for stories and travelled South Africa’s cities, towns and dorps researching, developing and fleshing out the tales that make a nation remember who it is, and where it came from. He believed that many heroic deeds, by both black and white South Africans have been forgotten, or, for political reasons have been brushed under the carpet. While Roger was predominantly a South African historian, his bent lay in the telling of stories, not so much of the factual dates and information, but rather placing an emphasis on the deeds performed by the people that have made our country what it is today. His talks range from ancient aboriginal tales, the many slants on the history of South Africa prior to Jan van Riebeck to modern day issues including the land claims and land distribution and the renaming of streets. Roger’s historical and anecdotal tales based on the true history of South Africa, and not what we were taught in school, have made him a controversial and sought after speaker on the South African circuit. Roger Webster was a well-known voice to South African Audiences - he has been broadcasting his “Fireside Chats” on SAFM for the last 10 years.
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