Ashawna Hailey

Ashawna Hailey (October 8, 1949 – October 14, 2011) was an American computer scientist and philanthropist. She was among the creators of the HSPICE program (a commercialized version of SPICE), which many electronic design companies worldwide use to simulate the electronic circuits. Her company, Meta-Software, which was behind the commercialization of SPICE, produced compound annual growth rate in excess of 25–30 percent every year for 18 years, and had eventually become part of Synopsys, which calls HSPICE "the 'gold standard' for accurate circuit simulation".

Early life and education Hailey attended Texas Tech University along with her twin brother, Kim Hailey, starting her first company while still in college.

As a philanthropist, Hailey sought to reform government policies on recreational drugs. During her life she donated to the ACLU Foundation, Code Pink, the Drug Policy Alliance, Feeding America, the Marijuana Policy Project, Erowid, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and served on the board of MAPS.

Legacy After Hailey's death she left a US$10-Million bequest shared between MAPS, the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, and Second Harvest Food Bank. In what its board considered a fitting tribute to Hailey, the Marijuana Policy Project dedicated a million dollars of her bequest to the initiative that for the first time enabled voters to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Colorado.