Kathy Chou is VP of Research & Development Operations and Central Services for VMware. Chou has more than 25 years of operations and management experience in the high-tech industry. Previously, she has served as SVP of Sales Strategy and Operations for Informatica, VP of Sales Operations and Strategy at Intuit and spent 18 years at HP in various management roles. Chou holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. She most recently served on the Stanford Presidential Search Committee, has chaired the Stanford Alumni Committee on Trustee Nominations and served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. She is currently Vice Chair for the Stanford Institute for Research in Social Sciences (IRISS), member of the Santa Clary University Board of Regents and a director for the Asian Pacific Fund. Kathy received the Stanford Medal in 2013, Wise Woman Award from Deloitte LLP in 2011, and was the Winner of the Franz Edelman Award for excellence in Operations Research in 2009. The Silicon Valley Business Journal selected her as one of the Top 100 most influential women in 2011. Chou lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and four sons. In her spare time, Kathy likes traveling, architecture and dance.