D
r. Telle Whitney has served as president and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and
Technology since 2002. The Anita Borg Institute has developed tools and programs designed
to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women as technology
leaders since 1997. By providing inclusive platforms designed to ensure that women’s voices, ideas, and
spirits will result in higher levels of technical innovation, the Anita Borg Institute delivers programs
that are changing the world for women and for technology.
Whitney has been a champion of women in technology her entire career. She has 20
years of experience in the semiconductor and telecommunications industries, where she has held senior
technical management positions with Malleable Technologies (now PMC-Sierra) and Actel Corporation.
She is also a cofounder of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference.
Whitney served as secretary/treasurer for the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in
2003-2004, and is currently co-chair of the ACM Distinguished Member Committee. She was a member
of the National Science Foundation’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering
and the advisory committees for the Directorate in Computer and Information Science and
Engineering, and is a cofounder of the National Center for Women and Information Technology. She
serves on the advisory boards of the California Institute of Technology’s Information Science and
Technology, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Illuminate
Ventures.
Whitney has received numerous awards including the ACM Distinguished Service Award, the
Marie Pistilli Women in Electronic Design Automation Achievement Award, the Women’s Venture
Fund Highest Leaf Award, and the San Jose Business Journal Top 100 Women of Influence.
Whitney received her PhD from the California Institute of Technology, and her bachelor’s
degree from the University of Utah, both in computer science. She is an avid runner, and lives in the
Santa Cruz Mountains. She also makes jewelry in her not-so-spare time.