Posted April 24, 2006 at 2:29 PM | Tagged as: Computing, People I Admire, Women! | Comments Off
Kathleen Mauchly Antonelli (nee McNulty), one of the 6 female programmers of the ENIAC, passed away Thursday, April 20, 2006.
Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli was one of the six original programmers of the ENIAC machine (the world’s first all-electronic computer), thus making her one of the world’s first programmers. Initially, she was hired by Aberdeen Proving Grounds to be a “Computer” where ballistics trajectory equations were calculated by hand to make firing tables for guns and cannons during World War II. Ms. Antonelli was quickly promoted to working on, and then supervising, these calculations on the Differential Analyzer, an electro-mechanical analog calculating device. With the invention of ENIAC, these computations went from taking 40 hours (by hand), to an hour (by Analyzer), to just mere seconds (by ENIAC) and Ms. Antonelli was recruited into the initial programming team. Without prior training and only schematics to work with, the all-woman team programmed ENIAC. After WWII, she helped some of the world’s leading mathematicians use ENIAC, and helped teach the next generation of computer programmers. In 1997 Antonelli was inducted into the Women In Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame. Ms. Antonelli received her Bachelors Degree in Mathematics from Chestnut Hill College in 1942.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Antonelli at the 2004 Grace Hopper Celebration. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.
Posted April 13, 2006 at 2:55 PM | Tagged as: Politics, Pro-Choice | Comments Off
Bob Casey, I’ve had it with you. Quit asking for my support. Quit asking me for money! Especially in requests like this beauty that came in today’s mail:
Please join me in opposing Santorum for reelection by making a generous contribution to his opponent, Bob Casey Jr.
Letter from Al Gore on behalf of the Bob Casey for Pennsylvania Committee
Ha! As much as I hate (yes, hate) Rick Santorum, that’s a very, very poor reason to support or vote for you. C’mon Bob, be honest with the people! If you’re soliciting funds, you’d better start talking about what you will stand for, about what you’ll do differently for the people of Pennsylvania and for the country.
I already wrote to you, personally, to tell you that I would not support your run for senator from Pennsylvania, since you do not support a women’s right to choose. I urged you to change your political position (not your personal views) and to support the DNC’s platform of defending women’s rights. But you’ve chosen not to. Fine.
However, you continue to barage me with requests for funds… and now I’ve had it. I was throwing away the solicitations previously, but you know what? Now I’m going to do what I used to do as a pro-environment, anti-junk mail teenager — I’m going to start sending all of this crap right back to you. That’s right, let your campaign pay for the return postage.
And maybe, just maybe, by blogging about this, others will follow suit. I hope they do. And I hope the cost affects your finances enough for you to take notice. For the pro-choice voters of Pennsylvania, you just won’t do as an alternative to Santorum.
Posted April 7, 2006 at 5:58 PM | Tagged as: Computing, Women! | Comments Off
If you’re an ACM member, you know that election season is upon us. It’s time to get out the vote!
Personally, I will be voting for Telle Whitney for President and Wendy Hall for Vice President. I’ve gotten to know both through the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women and Computing event. I can’t help but think that this is exactly the time for a duo such as this; with CS enrollment down overall, but particularly among women, this team will serve not only as role models but also as motivators and drivers for change.
How do I know this? At GHC04, Wendy and I briefly discussed the [snobbish] academic response to Web development as a field of computer science, and she encouraged me to look for ways to change that perception. This GHC, I’ve submitted a proposal to present a sample Intro to CS class that would use Web development as a means for attracting and retaining more students. I hope I have the opportunity to present!
Also during GHC04, I boldly proclaimed to Telle that I wanted to be the webmaster for GHC06. Well, not only has that happened, but Telle and the team at ABI have invited me to get involved in other ways. I couldn’t be more proud to have the opportunity to contribute.
These two women have done exactly what more computer scientists — both female and male — need to be doing. They have stepped up to leadership roles; they understand that they are role models for others; they encourage others to participate and help find solutions to issues; and they give individuals opportunities to contribute in meaningful ways. That’s exactly how we’re doing to regrow the pipeline of students in CS, and that’s why these women are keys to making that happen.
