Female Computer Scientists

Vote for Your Favourite Female Computer Scientists

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 1 
Grace Hopper
(Computer Scientist, Mathematician and One of the First Programmers of the ‘Harvard Mark I’ Computer)
Grace Hopper
37
Birthdate: December 9, 1906
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: January 1, 1992
Computer scientist and U.S. Navy rear admiral Grace Hopper was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computing system. She pioneered the machine-independent programming language technique, and the FLOW-MATIC language used by her was later used to create COBOL. She received a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.
 2 
Barbara Liskov
(Computer scientist)
Barbara Liskov
5
Birthdate: November 7, 1939
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
 3 
Timnit Gebru
(Computer scientist)
Timnit Gebru
5
Birthdate: 1983 AD
Birthplace: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
 4 
Shafi Goldwasser
(university teacher, cryptographer, mathematician, computer scientist)
Shafi Goldwasser
2
Birthdate: 1958 AD
Birthplace: New York City

Shafi Goldwasser is a computer scientist who serves as the chief scientist of Duality Technologies which she co-founded in 2016. In 1997, she started serving as RSA Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), becoming the institute's first holder of the professorship. In 2012, she was honored with the Turing Award for her work in the field of cryptography.

 5 
Fei-Fei Li
(Computer scientist)
Fei-Fei Li
3
Birthdate: 1976 AD
Birthplace: Beijing
 6 
Sandra Lerner
(Businessperson)
Sandra Lerner
3
Birthdate: 1955 AD
Birthplace: America
 7 
Lynn Conway
(Transgender Activist & Computer Scientist Who Initiated The Mead-Conway VLSI Chip Design Revolution)
Lynn Conway
2
Birthdate: January 2, 1938
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Mount Vernon, New York, United States
 8 
Steve Shirley
(Computer scientist, Feminist)
Steve Shirley
7
Birthdate: September 16, 1933
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Dortmund

Born Vera Buchthal, Steve Shirley moved from Germany to Britain as a child refugee during the Nazi regime. Later, going by the name Stephanie Brook, she began learning coding. Battling a male-dominated workplace environment, she changed her name to Steve. The celebrated scientist now runs a charitable foundation.

 9 
Daphne Koller
(computer scientist, engineer)
Daphne Koller
4
Birthdate: August 27, 1968
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Jerusalem
 10 
Radia Perlman
(Computer Network Engineer)
Radia Perlman
2
Birthdate: December 18, 1951
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Portsmouth, Virginia, United States
 11 
Betty Holberton
(American Computer Scientist)
Betty Holberton
1
Birthdate: March 7, 1917
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: December 8, 2001
 12 
Jessica Fridrich
(Educator)
Jessica Fridrich
3
Birthdate: 1964 AD
Birthplace: Ostrava, Czech Republic
 13 
Joanna Rutkowska
(Computer researcher)
Joanna Rutkowska
1
Birthdate: 1981 AD
Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland

Joanna Rutkowska is a Polish computer security researcher. She is best known for her research on stealth malware and low-level security. She is the founder of the Qubes OS security-focused desktop operating system and Invisible Things Lab. She is the author of several popular books on systems trustability, including Intel x86 Considered Harmful and State Considered Harmful. 

 14 
Jean Bartik
(Computer software pioneer)
Jean Bartik
3
Birthdate: December 27, 1924
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Alanthus Grove, Missouri, United States
Died: March 23, 2011
 15 
Anita Borg
(Computer scientist)
Anita Borg
3
Birthdate: January 17, 1949
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Chicago
Died: April 6, 2003
 16 
Rediet Abebe
(Computer scientist)
Rediet Abebe
5
Birthdate: 1991 AD
Birthplace: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
 17 
Dina Katabi
(American Computer Scientist)
Dina Katabi
4
Birthdate: 1970 AD
Birthplace: Damascus, Syria
 18 
Maria von Wedemeyer
(Computer scientist)
Maria von Wedemeyer
3
Birthdate: April 23, 1924
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Patzig, Germany
Died: November 16, 1977
 19 
Ruzena Bajcsy
(Engineer)
Ruzena Bajcsy
2
Birthdate: May 28, 1933
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Bratislava, Slovakia
 20 
Kathryn P. Hire
(Astronaut)
Kathryn P. Hire
4
Birthdate: August 26, 1959
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Mobile, Alabama, United States
 21 
Frances E. Allen
(Computer scientist)
Frances E. Allen
0
Birthdate: August 4, 1932
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Peru, New York, United States
 22 
Kate Starbird
(Computer scientist)
Kate Starbird
2
Birthdate: July 30, 1975
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: West Point, New York, United States
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
 23 
Francesca Bria
(Information technologist)
Francesca Bria
0
Birthdate: November 11, 1977
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
 24 
Ayanna Howard
(Roboticist)
Ayanna Howard
5
Birthdate: January 24, 1972
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: United States
 25 
Karen Aardal
(Computer scientist, Mathematician)
Karen Aardal
0
Birthdate: 1961 AD
Birthplace: Unknown

Karen Aardal is a Norwegian and Dutch theoretical computer scientist, applied mathematician, and operations researcher. Apart from her research work, Aardal also works as a professor of Applied Mathematics at TU Delft. Her research work involves integer programming, combinatorial optimization, facility location, and approximation algorithms.

 26 
Pattie Maes
(Belgian-Born Software Engineer Known for Her Research on the Human-Computer Interaction)
Pattie Maes
4
Birthdate: 1961 AD
Birthplace: Brussels, Belgium

Belgian-born software engineer Pattie Maes made a revolutionary contribution to the e-commerce industry by redefining the human-computer interaction. She established the Fluid Interfaces Group of the MIT Media Lab and is part of the faculty of the MIT's Center for Neuro-Biological Engineering. She has also edited several books.

 27 
Juliana Rotich
(Kenyan IT Professional & Co-founder a Collective Tech Space Called 'iHub')
Juliana Rotich
5
Birthdate: 1977 AD
Birthplace: Kenya
Juliana Rotich is a Kenyan IT professional best known for developing web tools for crowdsourcing crisis information. She is credited with co-founding a collective tech space known as iHub. In 2011, Juliana Rotich was mentioned in The Guardian newspaper in its World’s Top 100 Women list. 
 28 
Ida Holz
(Engineer)
Ida Holz
2
Birthdate: January 30, 1935
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Montevideo, Uruguay
 29 
Rose Dieng-Kuntz
(Computer scientist)
Rose Dieng-Kuntz
5
Birthdate: March 27, 1956
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Senegal
Died: June 30, 2008
 30 
Chrisanthi Avgerou
(Computer scientist)
Chrisanthi Avgerou
7
Birthdate: 1954 AD
Birthplace: Greece

Born in Greece, Chrisanthi Avgerou later pursued her studies and research work in information systems in England. The LSE alumna is now a professor at the same institute. She is known for her research on the role of ICT in bringing about organizational change and socio-economic development.