Today the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) announced the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) scholarship sponsors who are providing scholarships for 200 recipients from around the world. The corporate sponsors this year include Cisco, CA, Goldman Sachs, Google, Intuit, Microsoft, NetApp, Raytheon, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, and Vanguard. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is also supporting scholarships.

As part of a $332,532 three year grant with ABI, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will fund scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students from the United States.

Grace Hopper Celebration scholarships provide funding for student travel, lodging and conference registration. Over 900 students applied for scholarships this year. The scholarships target domestic and international students, underrepresented minorities, and students with disabilities.

“Retention of young technical women is crucial to meeting the growing need for technical talent,” says Jody Mahoney, vice president of business development, Anita Borg Institute. “ABI saw that 79% of scholarship recipients from last year believed that attending the Conference had a positive impact on their commitment to a technology career. We are extremely grateful to our existing sponsors who have continued to support us this year and to our new sponsors working with ABI for the first time. Without sponsored scholarships, these young women wouldn’t be able to gain this new and exciting perspective on their field.”

ABI and the Association on Computing Machinery (ACM) partner again for this year’s GHC, a four-day technical conference with the goal of bringing the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. GHC offers opportunities for mentoring, motivation, networking, and technical and career development. GHC is taking place at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa in Tucson, Arizona September 30 - October 3, 2009. The Conference theme is "Creating Technology for Social Good”. For more information about the Grace Hopper Celebration visit www.gracehopper.org.

About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology

The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. ABI programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Google, Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Intel, National Science Foundation, NetApp, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Thomson Reuters, CA, Intuit, Amazon, Facebook, Raytheon, and Genentech. For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.