School of Education
Ann Winblad
Master of Arts, 1975
Winblad is a native Minnesotan with a quintessential “American Dream” success story. She received her B.A. in mathematics and business administration from the College of St. Catherine and M.A.s from the University of St. Thomas. Co-founding an accounting software firm, Open Systems, Inc., with a $500 investment, she sold it six years later for over $15 million. She then served as a strategic consultant for firms like IBM, Microsoft
and Price Waterhouse. Well known for her contributions to the software and technology industry Winblad is revered as an innovative leader and role model.
Her honors include: Upside Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the digital age, Vanity Fair’s top 50 leaders of the New Establishment, and Business Week’s top 25 brokers in the Silicon Valley. Winblad co-founded and is a partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, created in 1989 as the first venture firm focused exclusively on software investing. Winblad has served on numerous public and private software company boards and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the
University of St. Thomas, from which she additionally holds an honorary Doctorate of Laws.
