Google Announces 2006 Anita Borg Scholarship Winners

PALO ALTO, Calif. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – April 7, 2005 – The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced the winners of the 2006 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship. The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship was established to honor the legacy of Anita Borg and her efforts to encourage women to pursue careers in computer science and technology. The award is a $10,000 scholarship for outstanding female undergraduate and graduate students completing their degrees in computer science or related fields. "We commend the dedication, achievement and contributions of these young, talented women in computing and technology," said Dr. Telle Whitney, President and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute. "Programs like Google’s Anita Borg Scholarships pay tribute to Anita’s enduring legacy. But they also pave the way for more women to excel in the technical professions, creating diversity that benefits us all."

"We are thrilled to award these scholarships to some of the brightest young women studying in technical fields today," said Alan Eustace, Vice President of Engineering & Research, Google. "By supporting the next generation of great technical minds we pay tribute to Anita and her vision of women in the computer sciences."

For the 2006-2007 academic year, Google received 324 applications from students at 90 different universities across the country. Eligible students must be entering their senior year of undergraduate study or be enrolled in a graduate program for 2006 – 2007 school year at a university in the United States. Selection criteria includes academic performance, letters of recommendation, answers to short essay questions and interviews with members of the review committee. More information about the Google Anita Borg Scholarship can be found at www.google.com/anitaborg/.

We are pleased to award 19 $10,000 scholarships to the following students:

  • Brianna Bethel, University of Colorado – Boulder
  • G. Ayorkor Mills – Tettey, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Gillian Rachael Hayes, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Himabindu Pucha, Purdue University
  • Karen Fullam, University of Texas at Austin
  • Kristen Walcott, University of Virginia
  • Kristina Chodorow, New York University
  • Laura Rouse, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Marta Magdalena Luczynska, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Megan Olsen, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Michele Banko, University of Washington
  • Neven Abou Gazala, University of Pittsburgh
  • Parisa Michelle Tabriz, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • Rebecca Nancy Nesson, Harvard University
  • Shana Kay Watters, University of Minnesota
  • Sharmishtaa Seshamani, Johns Hopkins University
  • Soumi Sinha, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • Tracy Westeyn, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Vinithra Varadharajan, Carnegie Mellon University

$1,000 awards will go to the 28 other finalists:

  • Alicia Avelon Permell, Michigan Tech University
  • Anagha Mudigonda, Polytechnic University New York
  • Anna Tikhonova, University of California, Davis
  • Annie (Hsin-Wen) Liu, University of Washington
  • Ashima Kapur, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Cindy Rubio Gonzalez, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  • Delphine Nain, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Divya Arora, Princeton University
  • Emily Grace Christiansen, University of Minnesota-Morris
  • Emily Shen, Stanford University
  • Erika Chin, University of Virginia
  • Eva Mok, University of California, Berkeley
  • Evelyn Mintarno, Stanford University
  • Gina Upperman, Rice University
  • Hayley Nicole Iben, University of California, Berkeley
  • Jiayue He, Princeton University
  • Jing Chen, University of Pennsylvania
  • Laureen Lam, San Jose State University
  • Lingyun Zhang, University of California, San Diego
  • Lu Xiao, Pennsylvania State University
  • Meeta Sharma Gupta, Harvard University
  • Moushumi Sharmin, Marquette University
  • Neha Rungta, Brigham Young University
  • Rachel Weinstein, Stanford University
  • Sunny Consolvo, University of Washington
  • Tanya Lee Ann Crenshaw, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Valerie Hajdik, Texas A&M; University
  • Xiaonan Zhao, Northwestern University

All 47 scholars are invited to Mountain View to meet each other, tour Google and participate in a workshop on educational and career issues of women in computer science. The day will also include discussions with Google engineers and executives, representatives from the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and former scholarship winners.

About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology

Founded in 1997, the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) is a nationally recognized organization dedicated to changing the world for women and technology. ABI’s mission is two-fold: to increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology and to increase the positive impact of technology on the world’s women. ABI accomplishes its goals through collaboration with industry, academic and government organizations. The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology is 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. www.anitaborg.org

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Media Contact:

Megan Quinn
650.253.4944
meganq@google.com

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