Google Announces 2007 Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship Winners

PALO ALTO, Calif. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – April 3, 2007 – The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2007 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship today. 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 and related fields.

"The Anita Borg Scholarship is a living testament to Anita’s vision of supporting and recognizing exceptional women in computer science and technology," said Dr. Telle Whitney, President and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute. "We are pleased that together with Google, we can help these outstanding young women continue in their chosen fields."

"Google is honored to be able to keep Anita’s spirit alive by recognizing the achievements of these talented young women and helping them pursue careers in the technology sector," said Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President of Engineering & Research, Google. "We must continue to build programs that encourage women to pursue careers in the sciences and to build on Anita’s legacy."

For the 2006-2007 academic year, the institute received over 250 applications from students at 115 different universities across the country. Eligible students must be going into their final year of study at a US university or college. Selection criteria includes academic performance, letters of recommendation, answers to short essay questions and interviews with members of the review committee. After three rounds of review, the committee selected 50 finalists, who were then interviewed by phone. Of this group, 20 outstanding young women received the $10,000 scholarship.

The 2007 Anita Borg Scholarship Recipients

  • Alice R. Pang, Stanford University
  • Chaitanya Sri Kamisetty, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Jessica Leigh Kiefer, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
  • Lauren Joyce Cohen, Duke University
  • Lauren Michelle Chikofsky, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Marisabel Alejandra Guevara, University of Arkansas
  • Stephanie Lauren, Rosenthal Carnegie Mellon University
  • Tiffany Chen, Duke University
  • Alicia Avelon Thorsen, Michigan Technological University
  • Andrea Elaina Grimes, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Bistra Dilkina, Cornell University
  • Ling Xu, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Marshini Chetty, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Neha Shyam Rungta, Brigham Young University
  • Isabelle Lesley Stanton, University of Virginia
  • Wei Le, University of Virginia
  • Julie Anne Kientz, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Martha Allen Mercaldi, University of Washington
  • Kelly Rae Cannon, University of Minnesota
  • Helene Margaret Brashear, Georgia Institute of Technology

Google also recognizes these 30 highly qualified finalists, who will receive $1,000 awards:

  • Brittany Terese Fasy, Saint Joseph’s University
  • Debra Joy Lauterbach, Iowa State University
  • Elizabeth Michele DeLouise, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Marquita Benetra Priester, Clark Atlanta University
  • Michelle Leigh Wynn, Indiana University
  • Natalie S Yudin, University of Texas at Austin
  • Tiffany Anne Ralph, Colorado State University
  • Yi-Chieh Wu, Rice University
  • Qian (Janice) Wang, California Institute of Technology
  • Rachel Sima Sealfon, Princeton University
  • See Hwai Tracy Ng, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Kshipra Uday Bhawalkar, Duke University
  • Cecily Heiner, University of Utah
  • Rimma Vladimirovna Nehme, Purdue University
  • Tierui Chen- University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Diane Josephine Hu, University of California, San Diego
  • Bao Nguyen Nguyen, University of Washington
  • Lizabeth Yue Li, Stanford University
  • Tabitha Celeste Peck, University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Hila Becker, Columbia University
  • Abhilasha Bhargav-Spantzel, Purdue University
  • Animashree Anandkumar, Cornell University
  • Natalie N. Arkus, Harvard University
  • Suzette Jean Person, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
  • Tammara Monique Massey, UCLA
  • Arati Baliga, Rutgers University
  • Aviva Presser, Harvard University
  • Lavanya Ramakrishnan, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Claris Castillo, North Carolina State University
  • Susan Porter Wyche, Georgia Institute of Technology

All 50 scholars were 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 also included discussions with Google engineers and executives, representatives from the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and former scholarship winners. This event was part of a larger Google Scholars Retreat, which includes the winners of the 2006-2007 United Negro College Fund and Hispanic College Fund Google Scholarships which were previously announced.

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:

Sunny Gettinger
650.253.4713
sunnyg@google.com

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