Ada Lovelace Day

Today (March 24) is Ada Lovelace Day, and in her honor, we’ve been asked to blog about women in computing who have inspired us. My list is pretty long—current and former students, family members, and some of the great faculty at U of T—but the nod has to go to Karen Reid. She was one of the first people I met when I started my post-doc here in 1994, and ever since I started running projects and teaching courses in 2002, she has been my co-conspirator, reality check, and role model. She does a great job of sharing her love of computer science with her students and colleagues, and somehow always has time to turn my ideas into something workable. I hope that my daughter grows up with as much passion, commitment, intelligence, enthusiasm, and integrity as Karen shows every day.

As Kelly Lyons said, thank you to the organizers of Ada Lovelace Day for reminding us to think about and be thankful for the incredible technical women that have inspired us in our careers and our lives.