Donna Jean Albino was born on June 8, 1961 in Waterbury, Connecticut to Allan Robert Albino, a shoe repairman, and Gloria Marie Champagne, a secretary. She attended Wolcott High School (Wolcott, Connecticut) from 1975-1979 and then went to Mount Holyoke College between 1979-1983 receiving a B.A. in mathematics. In June 1983 she worked full time as an assistant staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory (Lexington, Massachusetts) in their radar research division while pursuing an M.S. in computer science at night at Boston University (granted December 1987). In October 1987, she became a software engineer for Adaptive Optics Associates (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Most of her career with AOA was spent in Cambridge, but she worked between 1991 and 1996 for their west coast office in Los Angeles, California. She attended Northeastern University at night between 1997 and 2000 earning a certificate in web development. In 2002, Albino returned to MIT Lincoln Laboratory, this time to their satellite research division. She was accepted to the graduate school for library and information science in 2006, and is pursuing a masters degree part time. She has held internships at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Salem Athenaeum (Salem, Massachusetts), and Nashua Public Library (Nashua, New Hampshire) in 2006 and 2007.
From the guide to the Donna Albino Papers MS 0854., 1979-2001, 1979-1983, (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)
