Illustration by Kirby Salvador.
Ping Fu (*1958)
Ping Fu is a Chinese-American entrepreneur and Vice President of 3D Systems Corporation. She grew up in Nanjing, China during the Cultural Revolution, and was asked to leave the country after researching female infanticide. She moved to the United States in 1984, where she studied computer science at the University of California, San Diego. In 1996, she and her then-husband co-founded Geomagic, a 3D software company. After hiring an executive who almost bankrupted the company during his two-year stint as CEO, Fu resumed her leadership position, working without a salary to make sure her employees could still get paid while she rebuilt the company. Sales tripled from 2001 to 2003 under her leadership, and in 2013 she sold Geomagic to 3D Systems Corporation.
“I believe behind every closed door is an open space.” —Ping Fu
This feature originally appeared in the Future issue. For more inspiring women, check out Grandma Moses’s story and our Women in History section.