Established in the U.K. in 2009 by Suw Charman-Anderson, the second Tuesday of October is celebrated as Ada Lovelace Day (ALD): an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). It's aim is to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage more girls into STEM careers and support women already working in STEM.
Who was Ada Lovelace?
Born in 1815, Ada Lovelace was the daughter of romantic poet Lord Byron. Although she had a turbulent childhood, Ada received a first-class education and exhibited an early passion and aptitude for math and science. At age 17, Ada met inventor and mechanical engineer, Charles Babbage. Ada was captivated by Babbage’s inventions, and he was impressed by her intellect, analytical skills and mathematical ability. They later collaborated on his general purpose computing machine, the Analytical Engine and in 1843, Lovelace published what we would now call a computer program to generate Bernoulli Numbers. Although Babbage had written fragments of programs before, Lovelace's was the most complete, most elaborate, and the first published.
More importantly, Lovelace was the first person to foresee the creative potential of the Engine. She explained how it could do so much more than merely calculate numbers, and could potentially create music and art, given the right programming and inputs. Her vision of computing's possibilities was unmatched by any of her peers and went unrecognized for a century. (Source: https://findingada.com/)
Celebrating CASSS Members
CASSS is proud to celebrate the achievements of many women who contribute to our community, a few of whom are highlighted here.
Image: Yuan-Yuan Chiu (F) speaking at WCBP 2013.
Two of the first three recipients of CASSS’ prestigious William S. Hancock Award for Outstanding Achievements in CMC Regulatory Science were women. Yuan-Yuan Chiu, whose work contributed to the FDA’s approval of the first genetically-engineered product was honored in 2013; followed by Kathryn Zoon, who in 1992 became the first female director of CBER, FDA.
Leading CASSS, six of twelve board members are women, including the President, Julia Edwards, Vice President of Biologics Development in Pharma Technical Regulatory at Genentech, a Member of the Roche Group and Vice President, Kathy Lee, Executive Group Director - Regulatory at Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group. Julia succeeds Nadine Ritter, who was the first female board president as well as the first female board member and is now the first (and only) female Distinguished Fellow.
Throughout the organization you will meet many accomplished women scientists who are role models and champions for girls aspiring to STEM careers. Here are just a few:
Looking for Ways to Celebrate Ada Lovelace Day?
- Attend an Ada Lovelace Day event - Look up Ada Lovelace Day events near you to find a pub quiz, lecture, edit-a-thon, coding workshop, or other activity that promotes the sciences and helps girls and women find their place in STEM fields.
- Brush up on the history of women in science - Once you start looking, you’ll find accomplished women in all parts of science, math, and technology. From Marie Curie to Ada Lovelace to Chien-Shiung Wu, women have made significant contributions in mathematics, physics, and other sciences, overcoming obstacles to pursue their dreams.
- Learn to code - Have you ever tried writing your own computer code? On Ada Lovelace Day, find a simple tutorial or attend a workshop to learn the basic skills you need to build a website, make your own phone apps, or automate tasks.