Michigan Tech grad student wins Google scholarship

Michigan Tech University student Alicia Thorsen was this close to not applying for the 2007 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship.

“I just kept thinking, ‘This is a national scholarship; there’s just too many people to compete against,’” she said.

Much to her benefit, though, Thorsen applied last year and was selected as a finalist before applying again this year and winning the $10,000 scholarship.

“I was nervous all week and then I got the call and I was calm ... on the phone,” she said. “And then I got off the phone and started screaming and jumping around.”

She had reason.

According to Tech, the scholarship is given to 20 outstanding female undergraduate and graduate students nationwide who are completing degrees in computer science and related fields.

For the 2006-2007 academic year, the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology received over 250 scholarship applications from students at 115 different schools across the country. Thorsen is the only winner from a Michigan university. Students from Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon and the Georgia Institute of Technology were among the winners.

Thorsen expects to receive her Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2008.

The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and Google Inc. created the highly competitive and prestigious scholarships to honor the legacy of Anita Borg and her efforts to encourage women to pursue careers in computer science and technology.

“The Anita Borg Scholarship is a living testament to Anita’s vision of supporting and recognizing exceptional women in computer science and technology,” said Telle Whitney, president and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute, in a statement released by Tech. “We are pleased that together with Google, we can help these outstanding young women continue in their chosen fields.”

Thorsen researches parallel algorithms, which are used to link together multiple computers and speed up computations.

She was valedictorian of her graduating class at Fayetteville State University, earning a 4.0 grade point average. She completed an MS in Computer Science at Michigan Tech in 2006 and was also a visiting research scholar at the University of Bergen, in Norway.

In addition to teaching computer science classes at Michigan Tech, Thorsen has led Summer Youth programs for high school students interested in computer science and teaches aerobics classes.

She is convinced that there are other people like her out there who should apply for scholarships, not matter how intimidating it might seem. She said it helped to meet the other finalists for the scholarship.

“Yes, they were smart, intelligent, confident women, “ she said. “but they were normal, like me. People underestimate their self worth ... They think, ‘I haven’t done anything great.’”

The staff in her department think she’s done something great.

“She is a neat person,” said Computer Science Chair Linda Ott in Tech’s release. “Alicia has gone out of her way to encourage other women to pursue computer science. In particular, she really excited the high school girls who enrolled in her Summer Youth program.”

Ott said Thorsen defies the stereotypes associated with her field of study.

“She doesn’t play video games, she’s married, she’s teaching aerobics — and she loves computer science,” Ott said.

“I am pretty girly-girly and proud,” Thorsen said.

Thorsen said one of the best things about the scholarship is that she will be able to take a semester off from teaching and focus on her research. To help pay for school, she earns funds through a teaching assistantship. The money will allow her to pay for the semester without having teach, so she can focus entirely on her research.

“When you’re teaching, there’s barely time to do research,” she said. “Teaching takes a lot of time. You’re got to give the students attention.”

Despite encouragement from her department, Thorsen said she might not go into academia right after she graduates.

“I’ve got my eye on Google,” she said, adding that she will intern there this summer, which was a separate interview and application process than the scholarship. “I want to (get) practical experience and then maybe I’ll go back and be a (professor).”