Congratulations to the 2013 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholars

Dr. Anita Borg revolutionized the way we think about technology and worked to dismantle the barriers that keep women and minorities from entering the computing and technology fields. In her lifetime, Anita founded the Institute for Women and Technology (now The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology), began an online community called Systers for technical women, and co-founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. We’re proud to honor her memory through the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship, established in 2004.

Today we’d like to recognize and congratulate the 30 Google Anita Borg Memorial scholars and the 30 Google Anita Borg Memorial finalists for 2013. The scholars, who attend universities in the United States and Canada, will join the annual Google Scholars’ Retreat this summer in New York City, where they will have the opportunity to attend tech talks on Google products, network with other scholars and Googlers, participate in developmental activities and sessions, and attend social activities. This year, the scholars will also have the opportunity to participate in a scholars’ edition of 24HoursOfGood, a hackathon in partnership with local non-profit organizations who work on education and STEM initiatives to make progress against a technical problem that is critical to their organization’s success.

Find out more (PDF) about our winners, including the institutions they attend. Soon we’ll select the Anita Borg scholars from our programs around the world. For more information on all our scholarships, visit the Google Scholarships site.

Posted by Azusa Liu, Student Development Programs Specialist

Celebrating six students receiving the AP-Google Journalism & Technology Scholarship

Last summer, we announced a joint scholarship program for aspiring journalists with the Associated Press, administered by the Online News Association. Congratulations to the six students who will each be receiving $20,000 to pursue degrees that lie at the intersection of journalism, computer science and new media:

• Emily Eggleston, 24, graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, studying journalism and geography.
• Reginald James, 30, undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, studying political science and African American studies.
• Katie Zhu, 20, undergraduate at Northwestern University, studying computer science and journalism.
• Rebecca Rolfe, 25, graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, studying digital media.
• Kevin Schaul, 20, undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota, studying journalism and computer science.
• John Osborn, 29, graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, studying journalism.

These students have big plans that range from producing hyperlocal data-driven stories, to developing open-source apps that allow for democratic news gathering and greater collaboration, to data visualization for current events and entertainment, to producing political news games and teaching journalists how to code.

We hope these scholarship winners, and their future projects, inspire the broader journalism community to keep rethinking how to report and share stories through new technologies.

For all undergraduate and graduate students already brainstorming ideas for next year, read more about the application process and eligibility on the scholarship program’s website. Thank you to the Associated Press and the Online News Association for making this scholarship program possible, and we look forward to seeing the impact these students have in their communities and in journalism.

Posted by Sean Carlson, Global Communications & Public Affairs