Celebrating Women in STEM

March is Women’s History Month, giving us the opportunity to highlight the many accomplishments of various women in STEM fields throughout history and currently. As with Black history, it is especially significant that we underscore these individuals’ achievements, as STEM is a field in which women are also underrepresented. The following list features just some of the many women who have achieved great feats in the world of STEM. Because there are too many women to name in this feature, it is important to recognize that this list is not exhaustive and grows every day. Further, while some women may instantly come to mind, such as Marie Curie and Dr. Mae Jemison, it is our hope to share those women who may not be as well known, but made significant advancements nonetheless.

The ENIAC Programmers

The first general-purpose electronic computer was known as the ENIAC - the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. The ENIAC programmers consisted of a team of six women - Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Snyder Holberton, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Frances Bilas Spence, and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum - who worked on this device during World War II. At the time, there were no programming languages or simple steps to take to program the computer. Writing a single instruction would require plugging in numerous wires to one of the 40 plugboards of the machine. Yet these women worked on calculations and diagrams of ballistic trajectories to launch accurate missiles. Even more impressive, they were able to do this within seconds!

Katherine Johnson

One of the first Black students to attend graduate school at West Virginia, Katherine Johnson was an extremely intelligent woman. She joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) where she analyzed the trajectory of America’s first human space flight. A brilliant mathematician, her calculations made it possible to link Project Apollo’s Orbital Module with the Command and Service Module which orbited the moon. In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.

Carol Shaw

Carol Shaw is a programmer known as one of the first women video game developers. During her education years, she enjoyed math and pursued a degree in Computer Science. She worked for Atari, where she developed a 3D Tic-Tac-Toe game. Shaw also worked on River Raid which was created for the Atari 2600, one of the Atari consoles. Her career also included work at Activision, which was the first third-party video game software publisher. Shaw’s accomplishments paved the way for women in the video gaming industry.

Shafi Goldwasser

Shafi Goldwasser is a computer scientist known for her accomplishments in developing cryptosystems. Working with cryptosystems involves using algorithms that specify calculations needed to convert data. Goldwasser’s Bachelor’s degrees in math and science from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as her Master’s and PhD work at the University of California Berkeley prepared her for a career filled with success. Her most famed accomplishment was the co-creation of the Blum-Goldwasser cryptosystem, which focuses on security data encryptions. Goldwasser has earned countless awards, including two Godel prizes, the Grace Murray Hopper Award, and the Turing Award.

Barabara Liskov

Another graduate of the University of California Berkeley is computer scientist and MIT Professor Barbara Liskov. She initially studied math and physics, and then pursued a degree in computer science. Liskov was the first woman to earn a computer science PhD from Stanford University. She also worked for a company called Mitre during some of her career. During this time, she achieved a great deal in computer science, including designing different programming languages, which, like Goldwasser, earned her the Turing Award.  She even has an object-oriented programming principle named for her: the Liskov Substitution Principle.

Clearly there is a lot to be said about each of the women we’ve discussed here, and these are just a few of the many women who have made great strides in the world of STEM. It is important that when we teach our students, they know that regardless of background, who they are, resources, etc., every student can succeed. It is our job to provide our students with a strong foundation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics so that anyone has the opportunity to pursue careers in these fields if they choose. As we’ve said before, STEM is for everyone!

References:

• https://blog.knoldus.com/what-is-liskov-substitution-principle-lsp-with-real-world-examples 
• http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/eniac.html 
• https://www.create-learn.us/blog/famous-women-in-computer-science/ 
• https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos/2.1.0?topic=cryptography-basic-elements-cryptographic-system 
• https://www.rosieriveters.com/carol_shaw_the_first_female_video_game_developer