Bio

Dr. Melody Ivory is re-writing what it means to be a woman of science and spirituality. Over the past 20 years, she has combined her work as a performance poet with her background as a computer scientist to be a passionate champion of women. Dr. Ivory is the author of six books, including the recent series—Composing Your Masterpiece Self™ Symphony. She has co-hosted a radio interview series titled, Step Into Your Full Greatness™, for the popular Dr. Pat a.m. radio show.

Melody helps women to connect mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually with their essential selves through inspirational poetry, motivational talks and handcrafted natural care products delivered as part of The Dr. Melody Ivory Experience™. She has performed her poetry for San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown’s Black History Celebration, the Women in Small Biz Summit, the Northwest Women’s Show, the Back Home with Lisa Smith Putnam tv show, and the Freehold Theatre in Seattle. Her writing and books have been featured in Word Up Magazine and Brother’s Magazine.

In addition her performances, Melody has given presentations at Staples, the African American Women on Tour, eWomen Network, Microsoft Research, Intel Research Seattle, Computer Research Association, American Printing House for the Blind, Mills College’s Women’s Leadership Institute, among others.

In 2001, after years of struggling with an attention deficit disorder, Melody became the first African American Woman to graduate from the University of California at Berkeley with a Ph.D. in computer science. Over the course of her career, she has held positions at Monsanto Agricultural Company, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, AT&T Research Laboratory, Lucent Technologies and Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Ivory has also served as a professor of computer and information science at the University of Washington in Seattle. She completed her undergraduate work at Purdue University with a double major in honor’s computer science and mathematics. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key National Honor Societies.

Melody is also the creator of the Body Song line of handcrafted natural care products, for which she uses her own formulations to develop soaps, oils, lotions, and teas that nurture the body and soul.

Melody is currently working on her one-woman show titled, “The Road M Traveled,” which chronicles her life of abuse and abandonment at the age of 7 by both parents. It takes the audience through the maze of foster homes she grew up in and describes how, despite these circumstances; she became valedictorian of her high school and ran away to college at the age of 18.

The performance morphs into Ivory’s adulthood where in 2003, she contracted meningitis and nearly died while working as a professor at the University of Washington. In 2005, as part of her healing process, she walked away from the job, a 6-figure salary, and the prestige of being the world’s leading expert on automated web site evaluation. “I left because I knew I was a teacher at heart, but I was in the wrong classroom, ” says Ivory. “My calling was not to teach about the outer technology, but to teach about the inner technology. Every performance is a classroom.” Today, among her many pursuits, Dr. Ivory works with mid-career women to awaken them to their purpose and follow their life’s calling.

Melody; her husband, Allum; and their son, Angelo, are all avid travelers. They have explored nearly all of the U.S. and Caribbean islands, as well as South and Central America, Europe, Cuba and Africa. During a trip to South Africa, Melody and Allum had a Zulu wedding ceremony to fully immerse themselves in another way of life.