Ashesi Computer Science major, Edem A. Diaba ’13, has been named a Google Anita Borg Memorial finalist. She is the only Ghanaian student to have been named amongst the 149 scholars and finalists from the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East or Africa.
The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship honours the memory of Dr. Anita Borg, who devoted herself to encouraging the presence of women in computing. After she passed away in 2003, Google created the Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship to honor her memory. Dr. Borg’s legacy lives on today through this scholarship scheme for women and the organization she created, the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology.
Edem applied for the scholarship after learning about it from a Google representative in a Google+ hangout organized by Ashesi’s Google Student Ambassador. As a finalist, she will join other scholars and finalists at the annual Google Scholars Retreat this summer in Zurich, Switzerland, where she will have the opportunity to network with other Google scholars and participate in social activities. The retreat will also include workshops, speakers, panelists and other breakout sessions over a couple of days.
“It is an exciting opportunity to meet other women in Computer Science and engage with them,” says Edem. “I am really looking forward to the Google Scholars Retreat."