PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - Jul 12, 2011) - The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) announced today that Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook, and Shirley Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will be the keynote speakers for the 11th annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC), which will be held November 9 - 12, 2011 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. The full program for the event is also now available online at www.gracehopper.org.
The world's largest gathering of women in computing in industry, academia, and government, the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a four day technical conference designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Over 450 speakers and 200 technical poster presenters will include leading researchers and industry experts discussing their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research, and engineering. Co-presented by the Anita Borg Institute and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the conference has expanded this year to now feature more than 132 sessions (panels, workshops, technical papers, Ph.D. forum, new investigators, technical posters, a track on large scale computing, and "birds of a feather" sessions) across ten tracks, invited technical speakers, and the ACM Student Research Competition.
This year's conference theme, "What If...?", recognizes that innovation in technology arises from the question: "What if a culture of technology that encourages participation and inquiry from a diverse workforce leads to greater levels of innovation?" More than 2800 women and men from over 30 countries in industry, academia, and government are expected to turn out for this year's event. GHC provides technical women with visibility, a sense of community, critical social networks and mentoring relationships that improve female representation in the field.
About This Year's Keynote Speakers
Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook
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.
Sheryl Sandberg will be speaking on Thursday, November 10th at 8:45 a.m.
Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
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 S.B. in physics and a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics, both from M.I.T.
Shirley Ann Jackson will be speaking on Friday, November 11, 2011 at 8:45 a.m.
For more information, visit:
About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)
The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. Our programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Google, HP, Microsoft, CA Technologies, Cisco, Facebook, First Republic Bank, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Lockheed Martin, National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, NetApp, SAP, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Amazon, Broadcom, Motorola Foundation, Raytheon, Salesforce, and Yahoo! For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.
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