As a pioneering female leader in the male-dominated technology industry, the late Susan Wojcicki AB ’90 built her career—including senior executive roles at Google and YouTube—by recognizing the power of new ideas and creating pathways for opportunity where none had existed before.
As a committed philanthropist and friend of Harvard, she was determined to pay it forward by opening doors for others to walk through—a legacy that continues to be felt across the University.
Together with her husband, Dennis Troper, she gave generously to establish seed grants at the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, fellowships at the Harvard Data Science Initiative, and graduate fellowships in computer science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)—creating educational funding opportunities that will support generations of talented students and faculty at Harvard working to create a better world.
Wojcicki—who also served on Harvard’s Global Advisory Council, Committee on University Resources, and University Task Force on Science and Engineering—remained connected to Harvard throughout her life.
“Susan deeply understood that Harvard’s people are its greatest strength—and she was dedicated to supporting them,” says Harvard President Alan M. Garber AB ’77, PhD ’82. “Her philanthropic legacy continues to enable our students and faculty to pursue crucial scientific research that will contribute to a better world.”
A Journey of Discovery at Harvard
The eldest of three daughters, Wojcicki was both pragmatic and creative, with a passion for making things.
Her mother, Esther, was trained as a journalist during a time when women were excluded from working in the field. Faced with obstacles to employment due to sexism, Esther pivoted to education and founded the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Program—which became one of the largest journalism and media training secondary schools in the United States—to break down barriers for future journalists.
“Susan deeply understood that Harvard’s people are its greatest strength—and she was dedicated to supporting them.”
— Alan M. Garber AB ’77, PhD ’82, President of Harvard University
Wojcicki often reflected on how Harvard opened its doors to her father, Stanley AB ’57, who was accepted on a scholarship as a refugee from Poland after World War II and went on to become a renowned physicist at Stanford University.
While she was influenced by both of her parents, Wojcicki was also determined to forge her own path.
“Susan wasn’t afraid of trying new things and wasn’t constrained by what people would say,” says Esther.
Wojcicki studied history and literature at Harvard College, where she was also a photographer for the Harvard Crimson and worked in Widener Library. During breaks from school, she took a variety of roles at a series of temp jobs, including staffing a legal office and answering phones at a waste management company. One of these jobs was at a startup, where she was inspired by the possibilities of emerging technology. When she returned to Harvard as a senior, she decided to take “Introduction to Computer Science” and was the only humanities concentrator in the class.
“Harvard empowered her to do what she wanted in life,” Esther says. “She loved being there. It gave her the opportunity to think, to be who she wanted to be, and to try a lot of different things.”
After graduation, she returned home to California, where she got her first job in Silicon Valley. While working to launch her career in the rapidly growing tech industry, she opened the doors of her garage in Menlo Park, California, to her friends Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who were starting a new company and in need of office space. This new venture became Google, and she joined as one of its first employees—rising to marketing manager and ultimately becoming one of its first executives.
Wojcicki, who went on to become CEO of YouTube, always looked for new opportunities to grow and learn—values that extended to her support of faculty and students across Harvard.
Seeding Climate Solutions
Passionate about climate science, Wojcicki was both an instrumental advisor to and a generous supporter of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, a University-wide hub for collaboration across Harvard’s Schools that develops real-world solutions to every aspect of the climate crisis.
Established by a gift from the Troper Wojcicki Foundation, the Salata Institute Seed Grant Program facilitates innovative research, stimulates new interdisciplinary partnerships, and empowers faculty from diverse fields to apply their knowledge to tackle climate-related challenges.
“I am honored, as Susan was, to support the Salata Institute’s efforts in building a healthier, greener world,” says Dennis Troper. “I can’t wait to see what’s accomplished in the future.”
The Salata Institute recently announced a fifth round of seed grants for work on understudied and emerging topics in climate and sustainability, providing funding for projects that include upcycling wasted wool into building insulation; a new way to monitor, predict, and prevent wildfires; and a workshop to bring together experts on insurance and climate change.
“Susan Wojcicki has had a tremendous impact on the Salata Institute,” says Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability Jim Stock. “Thanks to her guidance and enthusiasm for nurturing innovative research, her commitment to supporting the next generation of climate researchers will be felt for years to come.”
Breakthroughs in Big Data
Wojcicki was also enthusiastic about data science, seeing it as a versatile research tool that can be used to tackle critical issues across disciplines. This led her and her husband to expand opportunities for postdoctoral fellows at the Harvard Data Science Initiative (HDSI)—which connects experts in fields such as computer science, statistics, public health, education, law, business, humanities, social sciences, and more to leverage the power of data.
The Wojcicki Troper HDSI Postdoctoral Fellows program enables early-career researchers to pursue independent study, breaking down barriers between departments and encouraging creative approaches to research.
“The HDSI postdoctoral fellows are an integral part of our community,” says Francesca Dominici, HDSI faculty director and Clarence James Gamble Professor of Biostatistics, Population, and Data Science at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Their essential work and insights as they pursue independent research across Schools unite our efforts, and we will always be grateful for Susan’s belief in us and her investment in outstanding young scientists.”
The most recent cohort continues this tradition of outside-the-box thinking. Bailey Flanigan—who earned her PhD in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University—focuses on democratic processes that enable direct public participation and representation in policymaking. Ying Jin—who earned her PhD in statistics from Stanford University—develops methods for improving the certainty of prediction models in complex decisions, such as biomedical discovery.
Harnessing the Power of Computer Science
Wojcicki’s dedication to encouraging early-career researchers extended to graduate fellowships in computer science at SEAS.
The Susan Wojcicki and Dennis Troper Graduate Fellowship for Computer Science bolsters the efforts of graduate students as they work to address a wide range of issues related to computer science. Established in 2016, the fund aims to support students from all backgrounds with an interest in computer science, with a focus on those from historically underrepresented groups, including women.
The fund has supported PhD students working on the cutting edge of the field, including doctoral candidate Paula Rodriguez Diaz, who is working in the lab of Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science Milind Tambe on AI models that can improve the use of resources in the public health sector. She is also working on a project in partnership with ARMMAN, a nonprofit based in India that focuses on reducing child mortality, miscarriages, and deaths of pregnant women using data and AI.
“Susan’s generosity and belief in the potential of our scholars continue to make transformative and impactful research possible,” says SEAS Dean and George F. Colony Professor of Computer Science David C. Parkes. “Her passion and dedication to providing the best possible resources to our students have been invaluable. This support sustains their work, providing flexibility for graduate students to explore new pathways of knowledge and develop novel solutions to real-world problems.”
Remembering Susan
While her legacy lives on through the impact of her generosity, those who knew her well simply remember the amazing person she was.
Friends and classmates shared their heartfelt memories in the Harvard Crimson, where they also worked alongside her as undergraduates.
“She was so committed to what she believed in and truly worked hard to make technology better for the people it was designed to help,” says Shannon Liss-Riordan AB ’90, JD ’96. “She was supportive of others’ endeavors and didn’t let her success interfere with her relationships.”
“I marveled at her great success after college in a Silicon Valley world that was hardly welcoming to women, even one who literally had Google founded in her garage,” says Susan B. Glasser AB ’90.
“Susan was not only a very talented and successful person but also one of the nicest and kindest people you’d ever meet,” says Colin F. Boyle AB ’90, MPP ’96, MBA ’97. “She was a role model in so many ways.”
Reflecting on her daughter’s journey, her mother is immensely proud of the life Wojcicki lived, her commitment to uplifting others, and the values she instilled in the next generation.
“She wanted to do something that would make the world better for everyone,” Esther says, “and she made a huge impact.”
