Why would it be an 'or' thing? Each of these by itself is a big accomplishment: * Inventing super-scalar architecture * Writing THE book on VLSI * Becoming

Why would it be an 'or' thing? Each of these by itself is a big accomplishment: * Inventing super-scalar architecture * Writing THE book on VLSI * Becoming an accomplished professor, a favorite and recognized teacher to many of the "greats" in the field. * Undergoing (then new and much riskier) gender reassignment surgery despite the legal and social consequences that it might (and ultimately did) entail - losing a prestigious job, losing a family, and having to start life over.... and doing all that quite successfully! The fact that ALL of them are true of just one person is pretty spectacular. The fact that there are many comments in this thread from people who knew her and respected her for just one of these accomplishments (mostly the tech ones) and are just learning about the rest should answer the question for you about why this is being upvoted. Heck - either of my first two bullet points is on it's own black-bar worthy. The fact that you feel the need to focus on "the transgender thing" as possibly being the only reason there's attention should give you some pause. The fact that your entire comment is focused on the fact that a major innovator in our field was transgender with only the faintest of acknowledgement that her work underpins most of what we do here is just plain gross.