We in the Bowdish lab are beaming with pride that Fiona Whelan (MSc candidate) has won an extremely prestigious scholarship from Google. The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of Dr. Anita Borg, who devoted her life to encouraging the presence of women in computing and founded the Institute for Women in Technology in 1997. Anita passed away in 2003, and we created the Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship in 2004 to honor her memory. Anita’s legacy lives on today through this scholarship and the organization she created, which has since been re-named the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology. This is especially inspiring since Anita Borg was a driving force to attract and retain young women in computer science. According to the scholarship committe -“Her capacity to mix technical expertise and a relentless vision inspired, motivated and moved women to embrace technology instead of avoiding or ignoring it. She has touched and changed the lives of countless women in the computing fields and beyond.”

To read the press release from Google, click here.

To read the McMaster Daily News article, click here.

To read the CBC article, click here.

As part of her award Fiona will be travelling to Google HQ to network, participate in workshops learn about new Google products. Way to go Fiona!