A Year to Remember

------=_Part_271105130_105674149.1482261805281 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_Part_271105133_517942025.1482261805281" ------=_Part_271105133_517942025.1482261805281 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Gates Notes Insiders Newsletter [ [ [ [ View Online [ | Send to a= Friend [mailto:Enter%20an%20email?subject=3DYour%20Subject%20Line&body=3DT= hought%20you%20might%20be%20interested%20in%20this%20= .com/GlobalPages/NewsLetter] [ December 20, 2016 | The Insider Edition A Year to Remember By Bill Gates Looking back over 2016, I had some incredible experiences: I sniffed poop [= perfume, pet a chicken [, = revealed my superpower [ wish, celebrated an import= ant friendship [, learned how to dab [.= es/2h21wTC], and even watched the moon [ blow up! The one thing all of these experiences have in common is that they were mad= e possible by some incredible people who are working to make the world a be= tter place. Many of them I had the pleasure of meeting in person during my = trips to visit schools, labs, and universities from Seattle to South Africa= . Others, I got to know by experiencing their writing in books on everythin= g from spacecraft to shoes. For this month=E2=80=99s newsletter, I want to highlight some of the amazin= g people I=E2=80=99ve met this year and some of the best books I=E2=80=99ve= read. All of them inspired me and I hope reading about them and their work= will inspire you too. I look forward to sharing more of my adventures with you in 2017. Best wishes for the holiday season and the new year! My Favorite Fanatics of 2016By Bill Gates [ When I was in my 20s and early 30s, I was fanatical about software. By =E2= =80=9Cfanatical=E2=80=9D I mean that I was so focused on my vision of putti= ng a computer on every desk and in every home that I gave up a normal exist= ence. I didn=E2=80=99t take vacations or weekends off. I wasn=E2=80=99t int= erested in getting married. (Obviously, that changed when I met Melinda!) M= y colleagues and I at Microsoft took tremendous pride in being the first to= arrive at work and the last to leave. It was an incredibly fun chapter of = my life. Now, much of my work involves learning from other fanatics. They are the sc= ientists in search of new vaccines. Teachers working tirelessly to perfect = their craft. Engineers dreaming up crazy ideas for new sources for clean en= ergy. Being able to learn about their work and help them realize their drea= ms has opened up an amazing new chapter in my life. Looking back over 2016, I had the opportunity to meet with many gifted indi= viduals trying to change the world. Their hard work and dedication fuel my = optimism that our world=E2=80=99s best days are still ahead of us. Here are= a few of my favorite fanatics. I hope they inspire you just as much as the= y have me. 1. Jimmy Carter This fall Melinda and I were lucky enough to go to Plains, Georgia and spen= d an evening with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. At 92, Jimmy Carter hasn=E2=80= =99t slowed down. For most, being President of the United States would be t= he high point of their public lives. For Jimmy Carter, it was just the star= t of a long career dedicated to human rights causes. He=E2=80=99s won the U= nited Nations Human Rights Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize. He started the = Carter Center, which continues to work on improving the health of the poore= st, including ending guinea worm. He=E2=80=99s an author. (I just read his = book, A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety [, a strik= ingly honest memoir about his private and public life.) He continues to tea= ch as well. Every month, he and Rosalynn go to Emory University, where he l= ectures in the departments of global health, political science, theology an= d holds open Q&A sessions with students. At home, he keeps busy too. During= a tour of his home, Jimmy showed Melinda and me how he spent the last few = years rebuilding the house himself. He also shared some paintings he=E2=80= =99s done=E2=80=94in his spare time! His life should be an inspiration to a= ll of us. 2. Nate Bowling One of my favorite new phrases I learned in 2016 is =E2=80=9Cnerd farmer.= =E2=80=9D That=E2=80=99s how Nate Bowling, Washington State Teacher of the = Year, described his role in the classroom. =E2=80=9CI joke about being a ne= rd farmer. I=E2=80=99m trying to cultivate a kind of scholarship in student= s, and a passion for learning. So I bring passion to the classroom, and the= y see that and rise to the occasion,=E2=80=9D he told me during our meeting= [ in June. Nate teaches AP Government and AP Human= Geography at Lincoln High School in Tacoma. Half its students are African-= American or Hispanic and more than 70 percent are eligible for free or redu= ced-price lunch. Many students at high-poverty schools like Lincoln struggl= e and do not graduate ready for college or high paying jobs. Thanks to Nate= and his colleagues, Lincoln is bucking that trend. It has a graduation rat= e of 80 percent, above the average for Washington schools with similar demo= graphics, and 40 percent of its students are taking Advanced Placement (AP)= classes. Nate is a great example of what it takes to be an effective teach= er. He works hard at his craft, always searching for ways to make a subject= relevant for his students. For example, he uses Star Wars [= /2gUBQDE] to help explain Civil Rights. It=E2=80=99s pretty amazing. =E2=80= =9CAll kids can learn if they have the support,=E2=80=9D he says. 3. Nandan Nilekani During my visit to India in November I had a chance to catch up with Nandan= Nilekani, one of India=E2=80=99s best-known entrepreneurs, philanthropists= , and thinkers. We met more than 20 years ago when he was helping to start = Infosys, a technology and consulting corporation. I was impressed with him = then and continue to be amazed by how he has lent his entrepreneurial passi= on to philanthropy and public service. In 2009, he left Infosys to serve as= the chairman of India=E2=80=99s new identity card system, which has provid= ed biometric IDs to more than one billion people. Now, Nandan is dreaming u= p ways to use this platform to help improve the lives of the world=E2=80=99= s poorest. He and his wife, Rohini, have set up EkStep, a non-profit that u= ses smartphone-based apps to help children with early learning. Nandan and = I share a common optimism about the potential of the digital revolution in = India to improve lives through access to savings accounts, health records, = and education. We had a great conversation [ with t= he Financial Times during my visit. And to learn more about Nandan=E2=80=99= s vision for India=E2=80=99s future, you can read his book, Rebooting India= : Realizing a Billion Aspirations [. =E2=80=9CWe ar= e much better off dreaming, taking risks, and trying to realize a billion a= spirations; at best we risk falling flat on our faces,=E2=80=9D he writes. = =E2=80=9CFar more egregious, and most dangerous to our country, is going ab= out =E2=80=98business as usual,=E2=80=99 leaving a billion voices unheard a= nd a billion frustrations unresolved.=E2=80=9D 4. Dr. Ana Mari Cauce There=E2=80=99s an African proverb often cited at our foundation: =E2=80=9C= If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.=E2= =80=9D That was the vision behind Dr. Ana Mari Cauce=E2=80=99s incredible e= ffort at the University of Washington this year to unite researchers and re= sources from the university and beyond to help improve the health and well-= being of people around the world. Dr. Cauce, the president of the Universit= y of Washington, saw the need to help the university=E2=80=99s medical scho= ol, school of public health, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluatio= n, environmental scientists, and dozens of other partners to collaborate to= gether more effectively around common health-related goals. The effort, cal= led the Population Health Initiative [, has incredi= ble potential to unlock the power of health research and data for the benef= it of all. =E2=80=9CBeing truly healthy means far more than simply being fr= ee from ailments and afflictions. When we assess health, we must also take = into account the many other factors that affect well-being=E2=80=94poverty,= discrimination, climate change and violence, to name just a few,=E2=80=9D = Dr. Cauce said during her announcement of the initiative. In October, our f= oundation awarded a $210 million grant to the university to fund the constr= uction of a new building to house the Initiative and help foster greater co= llaboration. I=E2=80=99m eager to see what this visionary effort will mean = for improving health worldwide. 5. Ken Caldeira I spent a lot of time in 2016 meeting with some amazing scientists and rese= archers on topics ranging from malaria to microbes. In the field of energy,= one of my best teachers has been Ken Caldeira. A climate scientist at the = Carnegie Institution for Science, Ken investigates issues related to climat= e, carbon, and energy systems. His official job title requires him =E2=80= =9Cto make important scientific discoveries.=E2=80=9D And he has. He is a p= ioneer in exploring the impact of human activity on our climate. His experi= ments have given us the strongest evidence to date that ocean acidification= is already harming coral reef growth. I first met Ken a decade ago and we= =E2=80=99ve met a few times each year for learning sessions about climate c= hange and energy. He=E2=80=99s a brilliant teacher who is always patient wh= en I ask lots of questions. What I appreciate most about his teaching style= is how he is able to explain complex ideas in ways that are accessible to = anyone. You can see this at work on his blog [, whe= re he uses the challenge of managing his office=E2=80=99s shared coffee pot= as a way to explain how we could fight climate change. =E2=80=9CWe will no= t solve the climate problem by teaching people to be less selfish,=E2=80=9D= he writes. =E2=80=9CIf we have to wait until people learn to make self-sac= rificing snap judgments before we can solve the climate problem, we will be= waiting until it is too late. #askbillg Have a question? Ask me on Twitter. Here=E2=80=99s a question I was asked= =E2=80=94and the answer I gave=E2=80=94during my visit to CalTech [http://b= -gat.es/2h0X4mk] a couple of months ago. QUESTION: Reflecting on your own optimism, would you say you're more or les= s optimistic than you were when you were an undergraduate student? BILL GATES: I'm more optimistic. I have a broader view of the world today. = When I was an undergraduate I knew a lot about software. And I was just fan= atical. That was the primary thing I was interested in. And I was optimisti= c about software. But I didn't think about how are people living in Asia. Y= ou could have asked me what percentage of kids die under five or what the A= merican foreign development budget was, or even how much had steel fabricat= ion improved I wouldn't have had a sense, that broad sense of things. I knew that innovation was important, but I was in a hurry. I thought someb= ody might realize how great microprocessors were and software were, and I w= anted to get there. That's the reason I didn't finish my undergraduate care= er. They were feeding me. It wasn't perfect food, but it was okay, and ther= e were smart people around. If it wasn't for the fact that getting a softwa= re company to be out in front felt like there was no room for delay I would= have finished my time as an undergraduate, because it's lots of fun, just = taking courses and getting generally nice feedback about papers that you ha= nd in. So it was great. So, no, I didn't have -- I didn't have a sense of the worl= d. I even would have thought it was a strange question to answer if you had= asked me some macro-type picture. And even in my 20s and 30s concepts like= vacation or -- I was a software person. And so it's kind of nice, now I'm = not making the same individual contribution fanatically, but I can fund fan= atics now. Recently on my Blog [ My Favorite Books of 2016 [ From tennis to tennis shoes and genomics to great leadership these books de= livered unexpected insights and pleasures. [ [ A New Model for Investing in Energy Innovation [ Earlier this month I announced the launch of Breakthrough Energy Ventures (= BEV), a fund that will invest more than $1 billion in scientific breakthrou= ghs. [ Other Things I=E2=80=99ve Been Reading Lately [ The Dividends of Funding Basic Science [ MIT's L. Rafael Reif writes that we must renew our national commitment to s= upporting basic science if we hope for technological solutions in the futur= e to solve some of humanity=E2=80=99s great challenges.(viaThe Wall Street = Journal) [ [ Rich-Poor Achievement Gap is Narrowing in American Education [.= es/2gQTUyq] The link between socio-economic status and school performance is weakening = for U.S. students, a sign of improving equity in American education.(viaBlo= omberg) [ [ Four Steps to Precision Public Health [ Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann writes about precision public hea= lth, the use of data to guide interventions that benefit populations more e= fficiently.(viaNature.com) [ [ Mobile Phones are Transforming Africa [ A new MIT study found that simply by gaining access to M-Pesa, Kenya=E2=80= =99s mobile-money service, 2% of Kenyan households were lifted out of pover= ty between 2008 and 2014.(viaThe Economist) [ [ [ [ [ [ =C2=A9 2016 The Gates Notes LLC Unsubscribe [ 74fb18315d47a87a15564/contact-1185e1e4baf8e51181003863bb2e0660-54c887c601ae= 4831a4157bbe7def8c16/gevfgenzonyqjva34/tznvy/pbz?f=3Dt] ------=_Part_271105133_517942025.1482261805281 Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable [3D"Logo"] [3D"Logo"] [3D"Logo"] [3D"Logo"] [View Online] | [Send to a Friend] [3D=] December 20, = 2016 | The Insider Edition =20 A Year to Remember =20 By Bill Gates =20 =20 [3D"Thumbnail"] =20 Looking back over 2016, I had some incr= edible experiences: I sniffed [po= op] perfume, pet a [chicken]= >, revealed my [superpower] wi= sh, celebrated an important [fr= iendship], learned how to [d= ab], and even watched the [m= oon] blow up! =20 The one thing all of these experiences = have in common is that they were made possible by some incredible people wh= o are working to make the world a better place. Many of them I had the plea= sure of meeting in person during my trips to visit schools, labs, and unive= rsities from Seattle to South Africa. Others, I got to know by experiencin= g their writing in books on everything from spacecraft to shoes. =20 For this month=E2=80=99s newsletter, I = want to highlight some of the amazing people I=E2=80=99ve met this year and= some of the best books I=E2=80=99ve read. All of them inspired me and I ho= pe reading about them and their work will inspire you too. =20 I look forward to sharing more of my ad= ventures with you in 2017. =20 Best wishes for the holiday season and = the new year! [=20] My Favorite Fanatics of 2016 =20 By Bill Gates =20 =20 [3D"Thumbnail"] When I was in my 20s and early 30s, I w= as fanatical about software. By =E2=80=9Cfanatical=E2=80=9D I mean that I w= as so focused on my vision of putting a computer on every desk and in every= home that I gave up a normal existence. I didn=E2=80=99t take vacations or= weekends off. I wasn=E2=80=99t interested in getting married. (Obviously, = that changed when I met Melinda!) My colleagues and I at Microsoft took tre= mendous pride in being the first to arrive at work and the last to leave. I= t was an incredibly fun chapter of my life. =20 Now, much of my work involves learning = from other fanatics. They are the scientists in search of new vaccines. Tea= chers working tirelessly to perfect their craft. Engineers dreaming up craz= y ideas for new sources for clean energy. Being able to learn about their w= ork and help them realize their dreams has opened up an amazing new chapter= in my life. =20 Looking back over 2016, I had the oppor= tunity to meet with many gifted individuals trying to change the world. The= ir hard work and dedication fuel my optimism that our world=E2=80=99s best = days are still ahead of us. Here are a few of my favorite fanatics. I hope = they inspire you just as much as they have me.=20 =20 1. Jimmy Carter =20 This fall Melinda and I were lucky enou= gh to go to Plains, Georgia and spend an evening with Jimmy and Rosalynn Ca= rter. At 92, Jimmy Carter hasn=E2=80=99t slowed down. For most, being Presi= dent of the United States would be the high point of their public lives. Fo= r Jimmy Carter, it was just the start of a long career dedicated to human r= ights causes. He=E2=80=99s won the United Nations Human Rights Prize and th= e Nobel Peace Prize. He started the Carter Center, which continues to work = on improving the health of the poorest, including ending guinea worm. He=E2= =80=99s an author. (I just read his book, [A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety], a strikingly honest memo= ir about his private and public life.) He continues to teach as well. Every= month, he and Rosalynn go to Emory University, where he lectures in the de= partments of global health, political science, theology and holds open Q&A = sessions with students. At home, he keeps busy too. During a tour of his ho= me, Jimmy showed Melinda and me how he spent the last few years rebuilding = the house himself. He also shared some paintings he=E2=80=99s done=E2=80=94= in his spare time! His life should be an inspiration to all of us. =20 2. Nate Bowling =20 One of my favorite new phrases I learne= d in 2016 is =E2=80=9Cnerd farmer.=E2=80=9D That=E2=80=99s how Nate Bowling= , Washington State Teacher of the Year, described his role in the classroom= . =E2=80=9CI joke about being a nerd farmer. I=E2=80=99m trying to cultivat= e a kind of scholarship in students, and a passion for learning. So I bring= passion to the classroom, and they see that and rise to the occasion,=E2= =80=9D he told me during [our me= eting] in June. Nate teaches AP Government and AP Human Geography at Lin= coln High School in Tacoma. Half its students are African-American or Hispa= nic and more than 70 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. = Many students at high-poverty schools like Lincoln struggle and do not grad= uate ready for college or high paying jobs. Thanks to Nate and his colleagu= es, Lincoln is bucking that trend. It has a graduation rate of 80 percent, = above the average for Washington schools with similar demographics, and 40 = percent of its students are taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Nate is= a great example of what it takes to be an effective teacher. He works hard= at his craft, always searching for ways to make a subject relevant for his= students. For example, he uses [Star Wars] to help explain Civil Rights. It=E2=80=99s pretty amazing. = =E2=80=9CAll kids can learn if they have the support,=E2=80=9D he says. =20 3. Nandan Nilekani =20 During my visit to India in November I = had a chance to catch up with Nandan Nilekani, one of India=E2=80=99s best-= known entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and thinkers. We met more than 20 yea= rs ago when he was helping to start Infosys, a technology and consulting co= rporation. I was impressed with him then and continue to be amazed by how h= e has lent his entrepreneurial passion to philanthropy and public service. = In 2009, he left Infosys to serve as the chairman of India=E2=80=99s new id= entity card system, which has provided biometric IDs to more than one billi= on people. Now, Nandan is dreaming up ways to use this platform to help imp= rove the lives of the world=E2=80=99s poorest. He and his wife, Rohini, hav= e set up EkStep, a non-profit that uses smartphone-based apps to help child= ren with early learning. Nandan and I share a common optimism about the pot= ential of the digital revolution in India to improve lives through access t= o savings accounts, health records, and education. We had a [great conversation] with the Financial Time= s during my visit. And to learn more about Nandan=E2=80=99s vision for Indi= a=E2=80=99s future, you can read his book, [Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations]. =E2=80=9C= We are much better off dreaming, taking risks, and trying to realize a bill= ion aspirations; at best we risk falling flat on our faces,=E2=80=9D he wri= tes. =E2=80=9CFar more egregious, and most dangerous to our country, is goi= ng about =E2=80=98business as usual,=E2=80=99 leaving a billion voices unhe= ard and a billion frustrations unresolved.=E2=80=9D =20 4. Dr. Ana Mari Cauce =20 There=E2=80=99s an African proverb ofte= n cited at our foundation: =E2=80=9CIf you want to go quickly, go alone. If= you want to go far, go together.=E2=80=9D That was the vision behind Dr. A= na Mari Cauce=E2=80=99s incredible effort at the University of Washington t= his year to unite researchers and resources from the university and beyond = to help improve the health and well-being of people around the world. Dr. C= auce, the president of the University of Washington, saw the need to help t= he university=E2=80=99s medical school, school of public health, the Instit= ute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, environmental scientists, and dozens= of other partners to collaborate together more effectively around common h= ealth-related goals. The effort, called the [Population Health Initiative], has incredible potential to = unlock the power of health research and data for the benefit of all. =E2=80= =9CBeing truly healthy means far more than simply being free from ailments = and afflictions. When we assess health, we must also take into account the = many other factors that affect well-being=E2=80=94poverty, discrimination, = climate change and violence, to name just a few,=E2=80=9D Dr. Cauce said du= ring her announcement of the initiative. In October, our foundation awarded= a $210 million grant to the university to fund the construction of a new b= uilding to house the Initiative and help foster greater collaboration. I=E2= =80=99m eager to see what this visionary effort will mean for improving hea= lth worldwide. =20 5. Ken Caldeira =20 I spent a lot of time in 2016 meeting w= ith some amazing scientists and researchers on topics ranging from malaria = to microbes. In the field of energy, one of my best teachers has been Ken C= aldeira. A climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Ken i= nvestigates issues related to climate, carbon, and energy systems. His offi= cial job title requires him =E2=80=9Cto make important scientific discoveri= es.=E2=80=9D And he has. He is a pioneer in exploring the impact of human a= ctivity on our climate. His experiments have given us the strongest evidenc= e to date that ocean acidification is already harming coral reef growth. I = first met Ken a decade ago and we=E2=80=99ve met a few times each year for = learning sessions about climate change and energy. He=E2=80=99s a brilliant= teacher who is always patient when I ask lots of questions. What I appreci= ate most about his teaching style is how he is able to explain complex idea= s in ways that are accessible to anyone. You can see this at work on [his blog], where he uses the chall= enge of managing his office=E2=80=99s shared coffee pot as a way to explain= how we could fight climate change. =E2=80=9CWe will not solve the climate = problem by teaching people to be less selfish,=E2=80=9D he writes. =E2=80= =9CIf we have to wait until people learn to make self-sacrificing snap judg= ments before we can solve the climate problem, we will be waiting until it = is too late. =20 #askbillg =20 Have a question? Ask me on Twitter. Her= e=E2=80=99s a question I was asked=E2=80=94and the answer I gave=E2=80=94du= ring my visit to [CalTech] a = couple of months ago. =20 =20 QUESTION: Reflecting on your own= optimism, would you say you're more or less optimistic than you were when = you were an undergraduate student? =20 =20 BILL GATES: I'm more optimistic.= I have a broader view of the world today. When I was an undergraduate I = knew a lot about software. And I was just fanatical. That was the primary= thing I was interested in. And I was optimistic about software. But I di= dn't think about how are people living in Asia. You could have asked me wh= at percentage of kids die under five or what the American foreign developme= nt budget was, or even how much had steel fabrication improved I wouldn't h= ave had a sense, that broad sense of things. =20 =20 I knew that innovation was important, b= ut I was in a hurry. I thought somebody might realize how great microproce= ssors were and software were, and I wanted to get there. That's the reason= I didn't finish my undergraduate career. They were feeding me. It wasn't= perfect food, but it was okay, and there were smart people around. If it = wasn't for the fact that getting a software company to be out in front felt= like there was no room for delay I would have finished my time as an under= graduate, because it's lots of fun, just taking courses and getting general= ly nice feedback about papers that you hand in. =20 =20 So it was great. So, no, I didn't have= -- I didn't have a sense of the world. I even would have thought it was a= strange question to answer if you had asked me some macro-type picture. A= nd even in my 20s and 30s concepts like vacation or -- I was a software per= son. And so it's kind of nice, now I'm not making the same individual cont= ribution fanatically, but I can fund fanatics now. =20 Recently on my Blog =20 [3D"Thumbnail"] [My Favorite Books of 2016] [From tennis to tennis shoes and genomics to great leadership these = books delivered unexpected insights and pleasures.] =20 [3D"Thumbnail"] [A New Model for Investing in Energy Innovation= a>] [Earlier this month I announced the launch of Breakthrough Energy Ve= ntures (BEV), a fund that will invest more than $1 billion in scientific br= eakthroughs.] =20 Other Things I=E2=80=99ve Been Reading = Lately =20 [3D"Thumbnail"] [The Dividends of Funding Basic Science] [MIT's L. Rafael Reif writes that we must renew our national commitm= ent to supporting basic science if we hope for technological solutions in = the future to solve some of humanity=E2=80=99s great challenges. (via= The Wall Street Journal)] =20 [3D"Thumbnail"] [Rich-Poor Achievement Gap is Narrowing in Americ= an Education] [The link between socio-economic status and school performance is we= akening for U.S. students, a sign of improving equity in American education= . (via Bloomberg)] =20 [3D"Thumbnail"] [Four Steps to Precision Public Health] [Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann writes about precision pu= blic health, the use of data to guide interventions that benefit population= s more efficiently. (via Nature.com)] =20 [3D"Thumbnail"] [Mobile Phones are Transforming Africa] [A new MIT study found that simply by gaining access to M-Pesa, Keny= a=E2=80=99s mobile-money service, 2% of Kenyan households were lifted out o= f poverty between 2008 and 2014. (via The Economist)= a>] = [3D"=] [3D"Logo"] [3D"Logo"] [3D"Logo"] [3D"Logo"] =C2=A9 2016 The Gates Notes LLC [Unsubs= cribe] ------=_Part_271105133_517942025.1482261805281-- ------=_Part_271105130_105674149.1482261805281--