Today’s high-tech world was built, in part, by the difference-making work of women in computing.
Their stories are told in the just-released book, Rendering History: The Women of ACM-W. Edited by Indiana University alum Gloria Childress Townsend, the book celebrates the 30th anniversary of Association for Computing Machinery’s Committee on Women in Computing by telling the remarkable stories of the pioneering women who thrived in a field dominated by men.
Katie Siek vouches for their impact. In so many ways, the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering professor of Informatics has lived it, benefitting from Childress Townsend’s key role in supporting the underrepresented in computing. Siek details that, and more, in a book chapter.
Siek praised Childress Townsend’s “unwavering leadership” in allowing women who have made major contributions to computing share their experiences and build community.
Childress Townsend, DePauw University professor of Computer Science and chair of the Computer Science department, won IU’s School of Informatics Career Achievement Award in 2012. Her research centers on evolutionary computation, robotics and computer ethics. For years, she was the only woman computer science professor at IU, and then at DePauw. She said that isolation inspired her to help other women in computing.
Bobby Schnable, former Luddy School dean, said the book is, “A wonderful collection of stories -- blending personal and professional reflections -- of many of the women who have been pioneers in computing and its roles in society, and in ACM-W.”
Schnabel called Childress Townsend, who has three IU degrees, one of those pioneers.
“We owe her great thanks for putting together this captivating collection of stories, and for telling the very impressive and influential history of ACM-W.
“This is, quite simply, a book you won’t want to put down!”
Siek has overcome her own challenges while building a successful career that includes a CRA-W Borg Early Career Award and Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance Distinguished Visiting Fellowships in 2010 and ’15. She was Luddy’s Informatics chair from 2020 to ’23, and is the secretary for the prestigious Computing Research Association.
Siek said her experiences and the book taught her that, “I am not alone -- which meant the world to me.”
Siek said she’s always looking for examples and models to help her figure out how to get where she wants to be so she can help more people. She said the book helped her find other first-generation women leaders in technology. Some are people she has collaborated with, such as Tracy Camp, executive director and CEO of the CRA.
“In the people I’m most exposed to,” Siek said, “I often realize I am not the person to speak pretty or keep my mouth shut and head nod.
“I’m known for getting things done well, efficiently, and right the first time. I am not afraid to speak my mind and work to help improve situations where there are inequities. These actions come from the values that were instilled in my blue-collar upbringing. “
Former IU professor Kay Connelly also wrote a book chapter as did a number of other impressive women -- Telle Whitney, former CEO of AnitaB.org; Lucy Sanders, CEO of NCWIT; Maria Klawe, President at Math for America; and Camp.
The book’s history section features Luddy Emeritus Senior Lecturer of Computer Science Suzanne Menzel, who was instrumental in keeping women in the pipeline in Luddy and Indiana University by co-organizing regional Women in Computing workshops and research experiences.