Routine Order

Fran Allen wins the Turing award, becoming the first ever woman to win the prestigious ACM award worth $100,000. Frances Allen, (not to be confused with the first woman of New England birth to become a nun;) ) was a computer scientist at IBM, an IBM Fellow, who worked on compilers, program optimization work and modern methods for high-speed computing.

I was surprised to learn she was the first woman ever to win the award, but it shouldn’t have been surprising. There is a lot of work to be done to promote women in technology and computer science. The sexist, stereotyped “geek” should give way, it is high time.

Congratulations, Fran, and I hope you blaze the trail for many more female Turing award winners.