She is the wife of Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, whom she met in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley.
[1] After graduating in 1981 with a master's degree in journalism, she joined the marketing department of Sun Microsystems, where Eric Schmidt later worked as well.
In 2005, Schmidt became a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and founded the 11th Hour Project to raise awareness about climate change and global warming.
As a yachtswoman, Schmidt has taken a personal interest in promoting some of the 11th Hour Project's ocean awareness programs through competitive sailing.
She gave $1 million to Proposition 87, a failed 2006 initiative to raise taxes on oil companies to pay for research and incentives to support alternative energy; $50,000 to the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, which was approved by voters; and $25,900 to Jerry Brown’s successful campaign for Governor of California.
The Fellowship equips participants with tools and expertise to drive new discoveries to benefit human and planetary health.
[19] In 2019, Wendy and Eric Schmidt funded the rebuilding and expansion of historic Guyot Hall at Princeton University’s Department of Computer Science.
Rise's mission aims to cultivate and support young people from around the world in the form of funding for internships or scholarships for higher education.