Anita Borg

Anita Borg received her doctorate in computer science from the Courant Institute at New York University in 1981, at the age of 32. She was one of the few women at the time with that level of education in technology. Following her degree, she built a career doing research for some of the industry's commercial giants, founding the Systers online community in 1987. She spent 12 years in Digital Equipment's Western Research Laboratory and as consultant engineer in the Network Systems Laboratory in Palo Alto, California, and developed and patented a system for analyzing and designing high-speed memory systems.

Borg co-started a technical conference for women in 1994, called the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, named for Grace Hopper, an innovative computer scientist. She wanted women to actively take part in this technological revolution instead of fearing or ignoring it. This led her to establish the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology in 1997. In 1999, President Clinton appointed Borg to the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology. Three years later she received the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment.

Borg was a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and a member of the Board of Directors of the Computing Research Association, and from 1998-1999, she served as a member of the National Academy of Engineering's Committee for the Celebration of Women in Engineering. She also was part of the National Research Council's Committee on Women in Science and Engineering. Anita Borg died in 2003 from brain cancer.

Locate on Walk:

• Stage Wall (Left Wall), 1-13