Yvette Salez left her mark on the Faculty of Sciences and subsequently Lille University of Science and Technology through her remarkable career.
Urged on by her mother, she took the shorthand typist exam in 1959, at the same time as her twin sister, Jeanine. Having both passed the exam successfully, they were appointed to the Faculty of Science in the same year. Yvette Salez worked in the Dean’s Office, where she was much appreciated for her orderly and methodical approach. In the 1960s, she became interested in computer science, a developing field. She was appointed as a programmer in 1965.
In 1972, she played a major role in the creation of the Interuniversity Information Processing Centre (Centre Interuniversitaire de Traitement de l’Information; CITI), becoming its first director in 1977. During her tenure, she looked after the interests of her staff and the development of a Centre which, after closing down in 1990, became Lille University of Science and Technology’s Computer Resources Centre (Centre de Ressources Informatiques; CRI).
Notes written by Marie Lefèvre.
This short profile was written as part of the first edition of the Université avec un grand Elles (Women Who Shaped the University) exhibition held in 2019.