Virginia Howlett (born 1951 in Edmonton, Canada) is a designer and painter. With an MFA in Painting from The Art Institute of Chicago, Virginia was one of the first designers hired into Microsoft in 1985. While there, she built the company's first user interface design team. She led the team that designed the 3D graphic interface for Windows 95. She was also instrumental in starting Microsoft's corporate art collection. Working in Microsoft's typography group, she collaborated with Matthew Carter to develop a number of typefaces including Verdana (which is named after her daughter, Ana).