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“…clearly a life changing event”
William Wulf, Ph.D., President, National Academy of Engineering
- “When a group of smart and dedicated women come together, powerful things happen. After my first Grace Hoppers Conference, I was fueled by the ideas and conversations and compelled to start a program in gender equity in the Microsoft Research University Relations organization. I go to Hoppers because that's where I get the opportunity to brainstorm and create programs that positively affect the image of computing and the numbers of women choosing technical paths.” Sarah Revi Sterling, Program Manager, University Relations, Microsoft Research.
- “It's crucial for women to sustain an active network in the technology industry, facilitating career development through mentoring networks and promoting the positive aspects of working in this area,” said Dr. Sharon Nunes, vice president, emerging businesses for IBM Research. Dr. Borg introduced networking avenues like Systers and the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. “Today, IBM Research encourages employees, as well as its interns, to become active participants in these groups. By sending interns to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference, IBM Research is helping them build key relationships with other women in the industry,” said Nunes.
- “There is no other keynote speech that I've ever done of which I am more proud. It's not what I said, it was being a part of the first of this now series of conferences that have affected the lives of so many young graduate women.” Dr. Anita Jones, Keynote Speaker 1994.
- "The Grace Hopper Conference will raise the bar and motivate me to reach even further than I imagined. There is nothing like hundreds of strong women to show me examples of what I am capable of." says Erin Buxton, Publicity Chair for the Grace Hopper Conference and Corporation Information Security for Halliburton.
- "The GHC has a profound impact because it includes all these women in computing sciences doing interesting and exciting work and the participants come away with a sense of motivation, community and support they may have never had before in their predominantly male environments." Dr. Telle Whitney, CEO & President, Anita Borg Institute of Women in Technology. Co-founder, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference.
- "The first Grace Hopper Conference was just a transforming experience for everyone involved. I think we were just blown away. For all of us, it was the first time in our lives we'd been in a room with 400 other technical women." Dr. Maria Klawe, Dean of Engineering and Applied Science, Princeton University.
"Attending a conference with over 600 women, all female computer scientists, is an indescribable feeling." Dr. Tracy Camp
- “All their professional lives these young women had been in male dominated situations and here all of a sudden not only were they together with hundreds of their fellow women computer scientists but they got a chance to meet the really accomplished and successful ones and got role models that couldn't have happened anywhere else. It was clearly a life changing event for them.” William Wulf, Ph.D., President, National Academy of Engineering
- “The main motivation for graduate women, such as myself, was to provide social and professional opportunities to meet other women in computer science, and exchange experiences and ideas with them. It was encouraging to meet women who are and will be leaders in our field and stimulating to hear their views on computer science. I was again surprised by the willingness of the women at the conference to talk to everyone and to listen to each other's concerns and views.” Brigitte Pientka, graduate student and GHC 2000 panelist
- “ There was a good mix of technical talks and talks specifically related to women's issues....An important aspect of the conference was the ability to meet so many women in the field, whether in industry or academia....It also was so inspiring that I feel I have more energy to devote to similar local activities related to women in the sciences.” Valerie Green
“It was wonderful to be in an environment filled with women who are accomplished in this field, as well as those just starting out.” Jen Stewart, student
- “We're really excited to attend this conference. It was a wonderful place to meet many women engineers and professionals, with whom we shared the prospective computer field.” Lixia Zhou, 2000-2001 President of WICSE (Women in Computer and Electrical Engineering) at university of California, Berkley.
- “The conference will really have dual roles. It will address the issue of women and girls in technology and why there aren't more in the field. It will also serve as a technical conference of peers. But it is a large concern why many girls stop their technical and computer education as early as middle and high school.” Renne Roberts, 2000 Grace Hopper Conference Spokeswoman, 2000
- For the first time I was part of a panel discussion at Grace Hopper. Before, I was in the audience listening to the panels and being encouraged by them. As a panelist, I was taking an active role. I was happy to share my enthusiasm and energy with other women at the conference --- maybe I even inspired some of them! Brigitte Pientka, Graduate student in Computer Science, CMU.
- " …What I didn't understand was what the impact would be of having 500 women in a room, 500 technical women in a room, 500 computer scientists who are women in a room!” Dr. Maria Klawe, Dean of Engineering and Applied Science, Princeton University.
- "It's important to have diverse perspectives, half the consumers of technology are women. Engineers create products for the person down the hallway who looks an awful lot like them. If we don't have a diverse project team, the technology that all of us will use suffers." Dr. Telle Whitney, CEO & President, Anita Borg Institute of Women in Technology. Co-founder, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference.
Additional quotes and interviews available on request. Contact us at media@gracehopper.org or 650.236.4079.
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