Anita Borg

Early Life
 Anita Borg Naffz, a renowned computer scientist, was born on January 17th, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois (Women In Computing). As a child she moved around a lot spending different parts of her childhood in Palatine, Illinois, Mukilteo, Washington, and also Kaneohe, Hawaii (Wikipedia). Sadly not much was known about her early childhood. While a young student she had an interest for mathematics, which ended when she found herself in front of a keyboard in her mid-20s during her employment at this small insurance company (Wikipedia, Women In Computing). There she taught herself how to program computers and upon matriculating into New York University, it sparked her interest in computer science (Women In Computing). According to Wikipedia, she acquired her PHD in 1981 writing her dissertation on operating system synchronization efficiency, which would one day allow her to change the world for women in technology as we know it (Wikipedia). Being one of the few women in technology she had a lot to prove in a field dominated by men. She noticed how women tended to be afraid of technology and often avoided it, which I believed empowered her to be successful in the field. She started a few organizations such as the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and Systers (Women In Computing).

 Borg did not have any children, but she was married to Dr. Winfried Wilcke, a Senior Manager at the IBM Research Division (Gilbert, 2003, Winfried). Borg’s life was short lived due to being diagnosed with brain cancer and died on April 6, 2003 at the age of 54 (Gilber, 2003). “She was survived by her sister, Lee Naffz, husband, Winfried Wilcke, and her mother, Beverly Naffz (Gilber, 2003).”

Inventions, Patents, Intellectual Property, and Foundations
 After receiving her PhD from NYU in 1981, Anita Borg began working for a start-up firm named Auragen Systems Corporation ( "Women Who Inspire Us: Education; Anita Borg." ). It was here that she helped develop fault tolerant operating systems for the Unix platform ( "Women Who Inspire Us: Education; Anita Borg." ). She then did similar work for a European company called Nixdorf Computer ( "Women Who Inspire Us: Education; Anita Borg." ). Fault tolerant operating systems allow programs to have some degree of error without failing completely.

 Later in her career, she worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, where she developed and patented a performance analysis method for high-speed memory systems ("Women Who Inspire Us: Education; Anita Borg."). Borg also worked as a consultant engineer for the DEC's Network Systems Laboratory, where she helped develop a message enabled communication and information system named MECCA ("Anita Borg"). She published a document about MECCA in 1992 titled "MECCA: A Message-Enabled Communication and Information System". The document explains the significance of MECCA such as its "automatic administration of a membership-based email community", which separated MECCA from ordinary email distribution systems at the time and made it more user friendly (Borg, 1).

 Along with her contribution to the development of MECCA, she also founded Systers, an online community based on the MECCA platform (Abbate). This mailing list was created specifically for women in operating systems research. Its domain of members eventually expanded, however, to the general community of women in computing (Abbate).

 She also founded or co-founded several other organizations. One of these organizations is the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, an annual conference that is the largest of its kind ("Programs: Grace Hopper Celebration"). This conference is run by a larger parent organization that Anita also founded, The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology ("About Us: History"). Originally called the Institute for Women and Technology, it was later renamed after Anita in honor of her death ("About Us: History").

 Bibliography

 "About Us: History." Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. n.p., n.d. Web 5 Oct. 2012.

  "Anita Borg." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 9 Aug. 2012. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

  Anita Borg, an oral history conducted in 2001 by Janet Abbate, IEEE History Center, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

  Borg, Anita. "MECCA: A Message Enabled Communication and Information System."  Digital Equipment Corporation  (1993): 1-10. Print.

  "Programs: Grace Hopper Celebration." Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:14px;line-height:normal;font-family:TimesNewRoman;"> <http://anitaborg.org/initiatives/ghc/> "Women Who Inspire Us: Education; Anita Borg." GirlGeeks. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:14px;line-height:normal;font-family:TimesNewRoman;"> <http://www.girlgeeks.org/innergeek/inspiringwomen/borg.shtml>

Contributions
Anita Borg has contributed to society by founding the Institute for Women and Technology (which is now renamed Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology when she passed). The mission of this institute (as stated on the website) is to “increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology, and to increase the positive impact of technology on the world of women”. This institute also publishes research about the state of women in technology, from low-level to senior level technical women.

She also founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. At the conference sessions are hosted where women are tested in skills in the areas that include technical skills, career sessions, poster sessions and more. There are also career fairs, award ceremonies, etc. over 650 presenters are included. This conference is set up to include many opportunities. Technical speakers are invited to speak at the conference. There is a competition that tests their abilities in computing. Workshops for students and those who mentor are also in the conference. Anita Borg also gives out a scholarship to those who attend the conference since the majority of attendees are students.

Systers, which is also founded by Anita Borg, is an email network used for technical women in computing. This has been around since 1987 and is a big role in the female technology online community. There is currently over 3000 active members subscribed and it is the oldest mailing list for women in computer science.

Career
Although Anita Borg originally started her life on more of a mathematics course, it was when she went to New York University when she got her start in Computer science. Being very accomplished in the computer field, Anita is most notorious for helping women become more prevalent in the computer field, that was so heavily dominated by men for quite some time. After writing her dissertation on operating system principals, she received her doctorate degree from New York University. For sometime after getting her doctorate, Anita worked in the research field and for a number of computer companies including Digital Equipment’s Western Research Laboratory. Anita then moved on to become a consultant engineer in the network systems laboratory. Arguably her most important achievement was her work with the MECCA Communications and Information Systems Project, where she developed and patented a method for generating complete address traces that could be used in the analysis and design of high-speed memory systems. This was important because it provided an important basis for research on network management. Through all of Anita’s research and technical work, she realized she was more interested in using the computer to help link people(specifically women), rather than the computer itself. In 1987 Anita created systers, an electronic mailing list exclusively for female engineers on subjects related to technology. Systers was very exclusive to women with heavy technical experience and was very helpful for these women in trying to become more integrated into the computer world. In 1994 Anita became the cofounder of Grace Hopper Celebration of Women, a technical conference held every two years. This conference primarily focuses on the career and research interests of women in information and computer sciences. In 1997 Anita joined the Xerox Corporation’s Palo Alto Research Center. Soon after starting at the research center, Anita founded the Institute for Women and Technology (I.W.T.), a nonprofit organization whose main goal is to help and encourage young women to enter the technology industry. It was also impressive to see that Anita was not only recognized by people in the computer field. In 1999 US President Bill Clinton appointed Anita to be the Presidential Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology. Anita was responsible for recommending strategies to the nation for increasing the breadth of participation fields for women.

<p style="border-style:none;">Sadly, in 2003 Anita Borg passed away from brain cancer. Anita had dedicated her life to helping women become better integrated into the computer field, and did so very well. Just one example of how she truly did help is that of Dr. Maria Klawe. Dr. Maria Klawe is the dean of the engineering faculty at Princeton University and has been a member of Systers for over 15 years. She is also the current president of the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM), and says that the most important factor in her professional development and in achieving her high position in ACM is due to the support she got from her colleague’s mailing list with systers.

<h2 style="border-style:none;"> Awards and Recognition 

Anita Borg is most recognized as a computer scientist and achieving recognition for women in the technical and computing field. The Computing Research Association elected her as a member on the board of directors as well as a member of the National Research Council’s Committee. Bill Clinton appointed her to the Presidential Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology. (Heinz) In 1995 she received the Augusta Ada Lovelace Award from the Association for Women in Computing for women in the computing field. Then, in 1996 she was inducted as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. In 1997 she founded the Institute for Women and Technology. Anita Borg also co-convened the first Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. The first conference was attended by almost every notable woman in the field and was named after a World Ward II computer pioneer. After breaking through the “silicon ceiling” she brought a small group of female technologists together which became known as the Systers Initiative. It was an e-mail list and information sharing network. It seems that Anitas biggest mark was as a mentor of women in a field traditionally known as being led by men. Anita Borg received her Ph.D. in 1981 from New York University, and her dissertation was largely recognized as a highly technical part of computer science. (HAFNER) Because of Anita, women now hold a larger position in the technical world. She has forever changed women in the computer science field.

<h2 style="border-style:none;"> Application to IT or ITC proffessionals

Anita Borg had a very large impact on the IT/ICT fields, especially for women. Most notably, she had a large impact on email and other web-based communication systems. Those who are in the IT/ICT programs should recognize one system in particular, Systers. This was a very early form of an online community, one that was way ahead of its' time and had an influence on the social communities of today. It was a way for women to connect and share ideas for new technology or to discuss present technology. It enabled the female voice to be heard in a field that had little of it. Today Systers includes more than 2,500 women in 38 countries. Anita Borg also founded the Institute for Women and Technology which, for women, has had quite an impact. Her goal was to create awareness and representation for women in the technology fields. She brought more women to technology and provided them with knowledge and support. The results of Anita’s efforts can be seen today, as there are certainly more women partaking in what technology has to offer. Although she did not realize her passion for computer science until college at New York University, she made such an impact in bringing women to a field that was at that time dominated by men. Her work with the MECCA Communications and Information Systems Project was impressive, in that she created a way to make address traces available in high-speed memory systems. She also helped found the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women, a conference in which women are showcased for their careers and research in information and computer sciences. Anita Borg has become an inspiration for many in the IT/ICT fields, and continues to be a role model for women with passion for information and computer sciences.

<h2 style="border-style:none;"> Critical Analysis and Interpretation

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;">Anita Borg Pioneering Computer Scientist- Elizabeth Weise

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;">Ms. Anita Borg was in her mid-20s when she decided to get a degree in programming. She earned a Ph.D. in computer science from the Courant Institute at New York University in 1981 and held a number of jobs at companies ranging from start-ups to Digital Equipment Corp.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;">Anita Borg Institute Reports Award Winners- John Hendry

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"> For Anita Borg, a consultant engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation‘s Western Research Lab, the Systers network combines 23 years of computer work with 25 years of feminism.Systers started almost five years ago, when about 25 women  got together for dinner at an operating-systems conference and  decided to stay in touch. It now has 1,100 members in 15 countries representing more than 150 colleges and universities  and 75 companies. There are also a few subject-related sublists, including one for AI. Despite its size, Systers continues to work well, according to Borg, because of the social mechanisms in  place and the “serious, concerned, and sophisticated people”  who use it. She is working on automating some of the administrative tasks involved; for instance, users will eventually be able to remove themselves from the list during vacations and then reinstate themselves.

<p style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:normal;">Anita Borg Journal: Milwaukee journal sentinel

<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"> 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 advancement. ABI 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, Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Intel, National Science Foundation, NetApp, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Thomson Reuters, CA, Intuit, Amazon, Facebook, Raytheon, and Genentech.