2004 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship Winners Announced.

Business Editors/Education Writers/High-Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2004

The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and Google Inc. today announced the winners of the 2004 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship. The Scholarship was awarded to female undergraduate and graduate students earning computer science degrees during the 2004-05 academic year, who were selected based on academic performance, responses to essay questions, and letters of recommendation.

"Anita would be proud to see the opportunity that Google has provided these young, talented women," said Dr. Telle Whitney, President and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute. "Together with Google, we are committed to honoring Anita's vision of finding extraordinary women who bring their whole selves to their study."

The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship honors the legacy of Dr. Anita Borg (1949-2003) and her impact on furthering women's education and their careers, particularly in the fields of computer science and information technology. The eight undergraduate and graduate winners of the 2004 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship, who received $10,000 awards, include:

-- Maria Gabriela Aguilera, University of Texas at El Paso 

-- Shalaka S. Bhuskute, University of Washington

-- Neha Jain, North Carolina State University 

-- Natasha Mohanty, University of Massachusetts 

-- Ritika Sanghi, Carnegie Mellon University 

-- Clara C. Shih, Stanford University

-- Kami Vaniea, Oregon State University 

-- Rose Yao, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Honorees, who received $1,000 scholarships, include:

-- Anne I-An Huang, The College of William and Mary 

-- Kavita Khurana, University of Maryland 

-- Ana Sanz Merino, UC Berkeley

-- Jessica Kristan Miller, University of Washington

-- Que Nguyet Nguyen, Colorado School of Mines 

-- Kiran Pannu, Northern Arizona University

-- Desislava Petkova, Mount Holyoke College

-- Amanda Sephano, Indiana University

-- Elspeth Jane Simpson, Rice University

-- Sarah Solter, Stanford University

-- Kristen Rachelle Walcott, Allegheny College

About Anita Borg:

Though Dr. Borg lost her battle with cancer in April 2003, the technology industry continues to support her vision for a future where women's voices, ideas and spirits influence how and why technology is developed. Anita sought to revolutionize the way we think about technology and devoted much of her adult life to dismantling barriers that keep women and minorities from entering computing and technology fields.

In 1987, seeing only a handful of women at a systems conference, she started a modest email list--an "online community" before the term even existed--and called it Systers. Today Systers has 3,000 members from all over the world. In 1994, Anita co-founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. And In 1997, Anita founded the Institute for Women and Technology to further increase women's impact on technology and the positive impact of technology on women. Today her legacy lives on through the lives she touched and the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. For more information see: www.anitaborg.org.