Women in IT - Emerging Leaders
Track Chair: Gondy Leroy, gondy.leroy@cgu.edu

Today, fewer women choose a career in information and computer science although the field offers excellent career opportunities. We believe that the low representation of women has an adverse effect on creativity, maturity, and quality in our discipline. In response to this problem, we are organizing a special track, "Women in IT - Emerging Leaders", to introduce young, aspiring women who have the potential to become high achievers to our field. The National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsors this unique event.

Our goal is to bring female high school and undergraduate students together with female professionals and students who have a passion for information and computer science. We scheduled presentations by two speakers. Kristin M. Tolle, Ph.D., is a program manager at Microsoft Corporation and will talk about “designing for usability”. Z Sweedyk. Ph.D., is associate professor at Harvey Mudd College and will discuss computer gaming and gender. We will also have a roundtable discussion with both speakers and female graduate university students. The participants are all at different stages of their careers in IS.

In addition to this special track, participants are also cordially invited to attend regular conference presentations.

Invited Speakers

Kristin M. Tolle, Ph.D., Microsoft Corporation
Dr. Tolle has had 18 years experience in information technology in both domestic and international business. She currently has a successful career as a Program Manager at Microsoft in the Office team having previously worked in Visual Studio and the Natural Language Groups. Dr. Tolle attained her Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona in 2002. Prior to joining Microsoft she led of team of researchers at the University of Arizona Artificial Intelligence Lab focusing in the areas of Medical Informatics, Information Retrieval, Information Extraction and Human/Computer Interaction and was a research fellow for the National Library of Medicine. In 2004 she was honored by her undergraduate university as an Outstanding Alumni. Her current interests include Women in Computing and User-centric Design.

Z. Sweedyk, Ph.D., Harvey Mudd College
Z Sweedyk is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Harvey Mudd College. She received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. She also has a B.A. in Telecommunications from Michigan State University and has worked in media production. She now combines these interests in her research in computer animation, graphics, and games.

Roundtable Participants:
Kristin M. Tolle, Program Manager – Microsoft Corporation
Z. Sweedyk, Associate Professor – Harvey Mudd College, Dep. Computer Science
Gondy Leroy, Assistant Professor – Claremont Graduate University, School of Information Systems and Technology
Bengisu Tulu, Doctoral Student (ABD) – Claremont Graduate University, School of Information Systems and Technology
Trudi Miller, Doctoral Student – Claremont Graduate University, School of Information Systems and Technology
Annika Irmscher, Master’s Student – Claremont Graduate University, School of Information Systems and Technology