In Celebration of Ada Lovelace Day: Dr. Janet Whitson

Today is world-wide Ada Lovelace Day. Daughter of English poet, Lord Byron, she is often credited as being the first computer programmer. The United States Department of Defense named their computer program in 1980 ADA, in her honor. More about Lady Lovelace on Wikipedia.

Today, blogs worldwide are honoring her by picking a woman in science or technology to profile as role models for young women. I decided to not pick a household name, but instead find someone working hard in their profession and inspiring students. Through HER-stories.com, I found Dr. Janet Whitson.

Dr. Whitson is Associate Professor of Biology at Concordia University Nebraska. She has published research articles, her main focus being Alzheimer’s disease (specifically the beta-amyloid protein), traumatic brain injury, and ischemia. Her favorite brain part is the hippocampus, and all of her research has been focused on this area. Plus, you gotta love that she’s a geek at heart, quoting Star Wars. I admire her for not only her academic achievements, and her mentoring of students, but that she’s also helping other women through her monthly column at HER-stories.com.

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

4 Replies to “In Celebration of Ada Lovelace Day: Dr. Janet Whitson”

  1. She’s my mother-in-law and absolutely WONDERFUL! I love her so much! Thanks for blogging about such an amazing woman.

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