Anita Borg Institute Recognizes Excellence: Scholarship Honorees Convene at Grace Hopper Celebration 2015

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 28, 2015) - The Anita Borg Institute For Women and Technology (ABI), a non-profit organization focused on the advancement of women in computing, honors more than 480 students and faculty who will receive scholarships to attend this year's Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC). Under the theme, "Our Time to Lead," ABI welcomes diverse scholars from across the globe to Houston, TX on October 14-16, 2015.

"More women are entering and excelling in the field of computing, and there is no better place to see the depth of talent and scale of impact that they can have on technology innovation than the Grace Hopper Celebration," said Telle Whitney, president and chief executive officer of the Anita Borg Institute. "The Grace Hopper Celebration has a legacy of leaving an indelible impression on attendees that continues to encourage, motivate and help advance women through their education and careers."

GHC, the largest gathering of women in computing in the world, expects 12,000 attendees this year, a 50 percent increase from the previous year. This year, ABI received 1,880 scholarship submissions, a 25 percent increase from the year prior. Twenty six percent (26 percent) of applications were accepted.

"It is awe-inspiring to see the breadth of intellect, passion and technical skill in these applications," said Roshni Kasad, senior program manager, Academic Initiatives at ABI. "Granting scholarships to a significant percentage of the applicants allows even more deserving candidates to participate in GHC."

The co-chairs leading the Scholarship Committee are Nancy Amato, unocal professor at Texas A&M University, Suzanne Matthews, assistant professor at US Military Academy at West Point and Jennifer Walter, associate professor at Vassar College.

Together, along with 526 volunteers, the committee chose the honorees based on key factors such as need, isolation factor, impact she would have on the conference, impact she would have on her university and whether she has attended GHC in the past.

This year, the committee placed 25 faculty members and 455 students worldwide.

Scholarship benefits include free registration for the conference, travel reimbursements as well as an engaging meet-and-greet and luncheon. As a part of the Scholars community, honorees join an invite-only Facebook group along with pre- and post-event Google Hangouts, arranged by ABI to foster community and networking.

The scholarships are funded by GHC corporate sponsors, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Award and the Thelma Estrin Memorial Scholarships Fund.

To learn more about the scholars and Grace Hopper Celebration, please visit http://gracehopper.org/2015-scholars/.

2015 Grace Hopper Celebration Sponsor
Diamond sponsors include Apple, Capital One, Cisco, Google and Microsoft.
Platinum sponsors include; Airbnb, Amazon, Avanade, Bank of America, CA Technologies, Dell, Dropbox, eBay, EMC, Ericsson, Facebook, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Intuit, Juniper Networks, LinkedIn, Lockheed Martin, Mastercard, Nationwide, NetApp, PayPal, Qualcomm, Rackspace, Thomson Reuters, ThoughtWorks, Two Sigma, Visa, VMware, Inc. and Yahoo!.
Gold Academic sponsors include Berkeley MFE, Cal Poly Department of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Tech College of Computing, Harvey Mudd College, Montana State University, New York University, Purdue University, Rice University, Stanford University Department of Computer Science, Texas A&M University Department of Computer Science, UCLA, UCSD Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Houston, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and USC.

Gold Labs and Nonprofits sponsors include: Dignity Health, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and NCWIT.

About the Anita Borg Institute (ABI)
The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) connects, inspires and guides women in computing and organizations that view technology innovation as a strategic imperative. Founded in 1997 by computer scientist Anita Borg, our reach extends to more than 65 countries. We believe technology innovation powers the global economy, and that women are crucial to building technology the world needs. The Anita Borg Institute is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. For more information, visit anitaborg.org

Follow the Anita Borg Institute on Twitter at @anitaborg_org and become a fan at www.facebook.com/anitaborginstitute.