A liberal arts education leads to a long career in tech and a chance to give back

Ellen Walsh ’85 — a principal program manager at Adobe Acrobat — discovered Mount Holyoke through an admissions brochure. Between the strong academics and the beautiful campus, she was sold. Plus, the location wasn’t too far from her family in West Hartford, Connecticut.

“In truth, I didn’t give any thought to it being a women’s college,” recalled Walsh. “Growing up, I’d moved frequently but always attended Catholic schools. I just wanted a different experience.”

What Walsh got was more than she ever anticipated: “I found my people and my voice. Mount Holyoke was transformative.”

A trailblazing career in tech

“Throughout my career, I’ve often been the only woman at the table. Because of Mount Holyoke, I was accustomed to having my opinions heard. And if I wasn’t being heard, I didn’t have trouble making myself heard.”

Walsh, who works on machine learning projects, admits she’s continually surprised by her career in high tech. She arrived at Mount Holyoke as a French major whose sights were set on spending junior year in Paris through study abroad. She achieved that goal, complete with climbing to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, exploring the catacombs and sitting at lots of cafes. Then, upon returning to campus as a senior, Walsh changed her major to politics.

In Boston after graduation, Walsh tried an academic administrative support position but desired a faster-paced setting. While visiting an aunt in California, she registered with a temp agency and spent three weeks at Sun Microsystems, a pioneer in computer workstations. After learning how to use a Unix vi editor, Walsh quickly and correctly edited a batch of files.

“My supervisor kept giving me more and more to do. The work was such a joy,” she said. “When I returned to Boston, I wanted to be an administrative assistant to the director of training at a software company.”

As fate would have it, Walsh found a posting for that dream job immediately upon opening the newspaper. In an era when computer science majors were rare, she was hired because of her Mount Holyoke liberal arts education. She soon transitioned from providing administrative support to doing quality assurance. Walsh subsequently worked with several start-ups as part of their quality teams. When the last one was acquired by Adobe, Walsh made her move into project management.

“Throughout my career, I’ve often been the only woman at the table. Because of Mount Holyoke, I was accustomed to having my opinions heard. And if I wasn’t being heard, I didn’t have trouble making myself heard.”

Giving back

“As a gender diverse institution, Mount Holyoke champions women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights. I want to be part of that.”

Financial aid opened Mount Holyoke’s door for Walsh. Her sister, Kathleen Walsh ’88, arrived on campus when Walsh was a senior. “Kathleen also received financial aid. I want to help other siblings, whether biological, adopted or foster.”

In gratitude, Walsh is creating an endowed scholarship fund through a deferred gift annuity, one that breaks new ground. It is the College’s first scholarship designated specifically for siblings.

Along with giving back to the College that changed her life, Walsh feels motivated to support Mount Holyoke for other reasons.

“Apparently, we’re going back in time,” she said. “As a gender diverse institution, Mount Holyoke champions women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights. I want to be part of that.”