Running with Scissors

Today, many across the blogosphere are making posts in honor of Ada Lovelace Day, a day filled with blog posts featuring women excelling in technology. Why Ada Lovelace? She is considered to be the worlds’ first computer programmer, designing programs for Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine.

While some are focusing their posts on great women role models in history, I’ve decided to stay more contemporary, and local. Since we can post about whomever we like in the area of women and technology, I have decided to not just limit myself to one person. I work with some pretty amazing and inspiring role models right here at UMW, so the choice to focus on my colleagues was easy.

First off, Martha Burtis. As a colleague in DTLT, she is always inspiring, challenging, and pushing those around her to use technology in innovative ways for teaching and learning. Her tenacity in chasing down WordPress plugin issues, or thinking through new initiatives here in DTLT are equally important to the work we do. Martha is a rare combination of a person with vision and technical chops to turn vision into reality. Not only that, she is a gifted strategic thinker – many times that is more valuable in getting the vision to reality. Plus, she puts up with the rest of us in DTLT – this is not an insignificant point.

Cathy Finn Derecki is a person with much knowledge, depth and wit in the work that she does. And what is that work? You name it. The thing I admire most about Cathy is her ability to learn new things, and then apply them in interesting and innovative ways. If she doesn’t know a new system, give her a week – she will. Give her two weeks and the wild stuff starts happening.

Words to describe another UMW colleague, Dana German: trust, excellence, leadership, compassion, and humor. She is able to organize, communicate, and move a team through IT projects so big you don’t even know where to start, and she does it in a way that is all at once demanding, inspiring, and successful. Dana has a rare gift: she inspires you to WANT to do ridiculous amounts of work on short time lines. Plus, she is someone that always has your back.

Pam Lowery, a colleague and friend and one of the people who hired me here at UMW almost 10 years ago is a person who can get more done in one 24 hour period than most can in a week. Her ability to help almost anyone with anything tech related, and to do it with grace and good humor is inspiring indeed. How she is able to say “yes” when everyone else says “no” is a testimonial to the size of the heart she has.

I have two other colleagues here in DTLT that also are worthy of mention as role models, our student aides Serena Epstein and Shannon Hauser. They both work with DTLT staff to help us implement our crazy ideas while at the same time having some pretty interesting ideas themselves. Having two students of the caliber of Serena and Shannon help DTLT to do better, more interesting, and more relevant work aimed at student audiences. Plus, they are just plain fun to be around.

Each of these women give me something to aspire to, they show me a way to approach work and life that goes beyond doing what is expected, what is ordinary. I’m grateful to know them all as colleagues, but more importantly, as friends.

If you are interested in reading further posts from Ada Lovelace Day, you can see a list of others who have posted here: http://ada.pint.org.uk/list.php.