Keynotes & Plenary Sessions
Keynote Speakers
Plenary Session
keynote speakers
Sheryl Sandberg
Chief Operating Officer, Facebook
Thursday, November 10th at 8:45am; Oregon Ballroom
Sheryl Sandberg is Chief Operating Officer at Facebook. She oversees the firm’s business operations including sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy and communications. Prior to Facebook, Sheryl was Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, where she built and managed the online sales channels for advertising and publishing and operations for consumer products worldwide. She was also instrumental in launching Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm. Before Google, Sheryl served as Chief of Staff for the United States Treasury Department under President Bill Clinton where she helped lead the Treasury’s work on forgiving debt in the developing world. Earlier, she was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and an economist with the World Bank. Sheryl received a B.A. summa cum laude in Economics from Harvard University and was awarded the John H. Williams Prize for the top graduating student in economics. She received an MBA with highest distinction from the Harvard Business School. Sheryl serves on the boards of The Walt Disney Company, Starbucks, Women for Women International, Center for Global Development and V-Day. Sheryl was named as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune.
The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.
President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Friday, November 11th at 8:45am; Oregon Ballroom
The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., is President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York. She has held senior leadership positions in government, industry, research, and academe. A theoretical physicist, she was chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995-1999). Currently she serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, appointed by President Obama in 2009. Her research and policy focus includes energy security and the national capacity for innovation, including addressing the “Quiet Crisis” of looming gaps in the science, technology, and engineering workforce and reduced support for basic research. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Philosophical Society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She serves on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and on the Board of the Council on Foreign Relations and The Brookings Institution. She is past President (2004) and Chairman of the Board (2005) of the AAAS. She is a Vice Chairman of the Council on Competitiveness and co-chaired its Energy Security, Innovation and Sustainability initiative. She is a member of the Board of Directors of global companies including IBM and FedEx. Calling her a “national treasure,” the National Science Board selected her as its 2007 Vannevar Bush Award recipient for “a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education, and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy.” Dr. Jackson holds a B.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics, both from M.I.T..
plenary session
Partnering with Executive Leaders for Shared Vision and Career Growth
Friday, November 11th at 2:00pm; Oregon Ballroom
Abstract: Increasing women in executive levels can only be accomplished when men and women have frank and open conversations. The conversations need to bring together organizational and personal strengths and map them to business goals and objectives. Come listen to industry leader partnerships discuss how they built shared understanding and developed a foundation of trust bringing out the best in both individuals and allowing them to focus their joint energies on business success.
Participants:
Linda Apsley (Microsoft), Moderator
Microsoft Partnership: Bill Laing and Betsy Speare
CA Technologies Partnership: Gabby Silbermann and Carrie Gates
Harvey Mudd College Partnership: Marie Klawe and Christine Alvarado
Bios:
Linda Apsley
Director of Program Management, Microsoft Corporation
Linda Apsley is a Principal Group Program Manager in the Xbox Live Commerce and Analytics team where she is responsible for service excellence. Previously, she was Director of Program Management in the Business Online Services Group where she held a strategic innovation role leading a service integration engineering team and created the governance model for Microsoft business services. Prior to this role, Linda managed compliance engineering for the Windows Division and managed the Windows Technical Adoption Programs. Linda has over 20 years of experience in the information technology and software industry. Actively involved with championing the industry and specifically the growth of women into leadership positions, she represents Microsoft at external technical executive events. As evidence of her commitment, several of Linda’s six children are pursuing successful careers in computer engineering and IP law and one daughter is studying to be a rocket scientist. Really!
Bill Laing
Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Corporation
Bill Laing is corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Server and Cloud Division. He is responsible for managing, delivering and documenting all elements of both Windows Azure and the Windows Server Platform. He is also responsible for virtualization, Remote Desktop Services, and Windows File Services delivery, customer engagement programs, and relationships with strategic hardware and software partners. He reports to Satya Nadella, president, Server and Tools Business. He has a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and computer science and a Master of Philosophy in computer science, both from the University of Edinburgh. He lives with his wife in Washington State.
Betsy Speare
Principal Lead Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Betsy Speare joined Microsoft in 1996. She currently delivers Windows Server management solutions via Group Policy and Windows Server Update Services. Betsy spent seven years working in Exchange Server in test and program management leadership, three years working in Small Business Server as a Program Management Lead and four years orchestrating planning for Windows Server end to end. Betsy graduated with her CS degree from Eastern Washington University. Betsy is Chairperson of the STB Women’s Leadership Council. You follow Betsy on Twitter @BetsySpeare as well as on LinkedIn’s Women’s Leadership Council in Microsoft Server & Cloud Division Group Page.
Gabriel M. Silberman
Senior Vice President and Director, CA Labs
Gabby is Senior Vice President and Director of CA Labs, responsible for building CA’s research and innovation capacity, and leveraging leading-edge research at universities around the world. Prior to CA, Gabby was program director for IBM’s Centers for Advanced Studies, and was a manager and researcher at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center. Gabby began his career as faculty in computer science at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Gabby earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in computer science from the Technion, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Carrie E. Gates
Distinguished Engineer and Director of Research, CA Labs
Carrie is a Distinguished Engineer and the Director of Research at CA Labs, the research arm for CA Technologies. She is responsible for identifying opportunities within the business units at CA that can be transformed into research relationships performed in collaboration with university faculty and students, as well as performing research that has the potential to impact the strategic direction of CA products and services. Her personal area of research is computer security, for which she was awarded CSO Magazine’s Women of Influence Award (Academic category) in October 2010. Carrie has over 40 academic publications, 3 patent applications, and has been a PI or co-PI on over $1 million in research grants and awards.
Maria Klawe
President, Harvey Mudd College
Maria Klawe, a renowned computer scientist and scholar and is the fifth president of Harvey Mudd College. Previously, she served as dean of engineering and professor of computer science at Princeton and held positions at the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, Oakland University, and IBM Research. She received her Ph.D. (1977) and B.Sc. (1973) in Mathematics from the University of Alberta. Klawe has made significant research contributions in several areas of mathematics and computer science. Her current research focuses on discrete mathematics. Klawe is a member of the boards of Microsoft, Broadcom Corporation, Math for America, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a trustee for the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, and a member of the Advisory Council for the Computer Science Teachers Association.
Christine Alvarado
Associated Professor of Computer Science, Harvey Mudd College
Christine Alvarado is an associate professor of computer science at Harvey Mudd College, where she has been on the faculty since 2005. Her current efforts are focused on making computers and computing more accessible, from both a usability and education standpoint. She received her undergraduate degree in CS from Dartmouth in 1998, and S.M. and Ph.D. in CS from MIT in 2000 and 2004, respectively. She currently serves on the College Board’s commission to design the new AP CS: Principles course, and is a co-chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Academic Alliance.