Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
11-03-2004
Purdue's Computer Science department was well represented at the 2004 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. The conference took place October 6-9, 2004 in Chicago, Illinois, and it is the fifth in a series of conferences designed to highlight research and career achievements and opportunities of women. The conference attracted over 800 participants including Purdue Computer Science Department Head, Manager of Corporate Relations, alumni, and students.
Thanks to a generous donation from the Microsoft Corporation six scholarships were available to undergraduates Panida Mongkolwongrojn and Elian Haliman and graduate students Abhilasha Bhargav, Win Mar Htay, Faith Moulton, and Mercan Topkara. Yuni Xia received a scholarship from IBM. Also attending the conference was the Director of Science Diversty and Director of Women in Science Programs, Barb Clark; CS Department Head, Professor Susanne Hambrusch; and CS Manager of Corporate Relations, Jean Jackson.
The conference was co-founded in 1994 by Dr. Anita Borg (1949-2003) and Dr. Telle Whitney and named to honor the legacy of US Navy Admiral, Grace Murray Hopper. Grace Murray Hopper, a mathematician, computer scientist, teacher and naval officer, had a profound effect on the development of the field from the 1930s through the 1980s. The 2004 conference was organized by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and the Association for Computing Machinery.
The conference began with a welcome reception and poster session on Wednesday, October 6. The conference boasted an impressive bill of speakers giving technical talks on Thursday and Friday, and participants had the opportunity to attend the Anita Borg Awards Banquet and a silent auction benefiting the Anita Borg Institute. A splendid addition to the conference this year was the "Pioneers Panel: Women Pioneers and Trailblazers in Computing" presented on Saturday morning. This segment featured some of the great achievers in CS from different areas of the globe and from different technical eras. This panel served as a historical showcase of accomplishments as well as a reinforcement for a scientific community of women.
