Ada Lovelace Day 2010: Anita Borg

I almost missed it this year with so much else going on, but I wanted to take a moment to bring your attention this Ada Lovelace Day to Dr. Anita Borg, founder of the Institute for Women and Technology in 1997, renamed the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology in 2003 after her death. The institute seeks to “increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology, and increase the positive impact of technology on the world’s women” through a strategy it calls “The Virtuous Cycle” where women learn leadership skills through embracing engineering and technical professions, which they use to influence the design and implementation of technological solutions to world problems, which demonstrates the capabilities of technically-empowered women, which influences societal perceptions, which results in more women taking technological paths to leadership.

Anita Borg
January 17, 1949 – April 6, 2003
Credit: Heinz Awards

Anita Borg received her doctorate in computer science from New York University in 1981, and in 1987 she started the Systers e-mail list, which has grown into the “world’s largest email community of technical women in computing.” She also started the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing technical conference for women. In 1999, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Presidential Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology. Today Google offers the Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship each year to women seeking higher education in Computer Science in Borg’s honor.

In addition to all these amazing achievements, she also wins my geek-vote for the coolest name in Computer Science “Dr. Borg.”