Without these historic women in STEM, the world would look very different today.
March is Women’s History Month and March 8th, International Women’s Day. Please help Peterson Technology Partners celebrate some of the most memorable women in STEM quotes, history, and unbelievable true stories!
[Learn about the power of EQ in women’s tech leadership in this PTP Report.]
Forget this world and all its troubles and, if possible, it’s multitudinous Charlatans– everything, in short, but the Enchantress of Numbers.” – Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace is often recognized as the first computer programmer. She was the first person to recognize that a computer could be used for more than just calculation and published the first algorithm intended to be processed by a computer.
“I just have my own attitude. I’m out here to get the job done, and I knew I had the ability to do it, and that’s where my focus was.” – Annie Easley
Annie Easley was a “human computer” in 1955 and later a computer scientist at NASA. She went on to work as an equal employment opportunity (EEO) counselor to help supervisors address issues of gender, race, and age discrimination in the workplace.
“The most damaging phrase in the language is: ‘It’s always been done that way.’” – Admiral Grace Hooper
Amazing Grace earned her Ph. D. in mathematics from Yale and created one of the first code compilers that converted English terms into computer code. This paved the way for modern programming, earning her the nickname Grandma COBOL.
“Your best champion and cheerleader is yourself. Always be proud of your accomplishments, big or small.” – Ayanna Howard
Ayanna Howard, who became one of Forbes’ “Top 50 Women in Tech” in 2018, is the first female dean of The Ohio State University’s engineering school. A talented roboticist, Howard also contributed to the design of multiple NASA robots.
“I think it’s very important to get more women into computing. My slogan is: Computing is too important to be left to men.” – Karen Spärck Jones
Karen Spärck Jones created the concept of inverse document frequency (IDF) while studying natural language processing (NLP). IDF is the technology relied on by most search engines, including Google, today.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie
Marie Curie was the first female to earn the Nobel Prize, the only woman to earn two, and the only laureate to be recognized in two distinct scientific fields. In physics in 1903 for developing the theory of, as well as naming, radiation and in chemistry in 1911 for discovering Polonium and Radium.
“If society will not admit of woman’s free development, then society must be remodeled.” – Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to graduate from medical school in the United States after being told by a dying friend that she may have “been spared her worst suffering if her physician had been a woman.” She then went on to establish the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.
“When Black women and other women of color are left behind, innovation and progress are left on the table.” – Dwana Franklin-Davis
Dwana Franklin-Davis began her career working in IT, software engineering, and leadership positions for Mastercard, May Department Store Companies, and IBM. Now, she is the CEO of Reboot Representation, a nonprofit coalition that aims to double the number of Black, Latina, and Native American women receiving computing degrees by 2025.
“I can excuse everything but boredom. Boring people don’t have to stay that way.” – Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her work in developing a radio guidance system using spread spectrum and frequency hopping for the U.S. Navy. The technology has since been incorporated into Bluetooth, CDMA and Wi-Fi
