Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The day is named in honor of Ada Lovelace, daughter of poet Lord Byron and Annabella Milbanke. Fearing that Ada would inherit her father’s volatile ‘poetic’ temperament, her mother raised her under a strict regimen of science, logic, and mathematics. From early on, Ada had a fascination with machines. She designed boats and steam flying machines, and poured over the diagrams of the new inventions of the Industrial Revolution that filled the scientific magazines of the time. In 1833, Lovelace met Charles Babbage, and they collaborated on the Analytical Engine.

For Ada Lovelace Day 2015, and the 200th anniversary of her birth (December 10, 1815), we are celebrating the achievements of women in STEM. We recognize and honor the work of four of UF’s Distinguished Professors in particular: Karen Bjorndal (Biology), Pam Soltis (Florida Museum of Natural History, Molecular Systematics), Jennifer Curtis (Chemical Engineering), and Yunmei Chen (Math).

We celebrate the accomplishments of these women and recognize the many other women faculty, students, and staff in science at UF and beyond. We also recognize the many accomplishments of women researchers and innovators in all fields, including the activists and change-agents who helped to lay the foundation for women to study at all, including for women to study science.