Brenda Chapman
Brenda Dianne Chapman , also known professionally as Brenda Chapman, is an American writer, animation story artist and director. In 1998, she became the first woman to direct an animated feature from a major studio, DreamWorks Animations The Prince of Egypt. She codirected the DisneyPixar film Brave, becoming the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Chapman was born in Beason, Illinois as the youngest of five. She studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts . During her summer breaks, she began her professional career working in syndicated television animation. After graduating with a BFA in character animation, she was a story trainee on the Disney animated film The Little Mermaid. She was one of several key story artists on Disneys Beauty and the Beast, where she worked closely with future Disney director Roger Allers to define many of the key sequences and motifs used in the film. She later served as head of story, the first woman to do so in an animated feature film, for Disneys animated classic The Lion King.
Source: Wikipedia