Georgia Tech CS Alumna Celebrated for Pioneering Technical Leadership

AnitaB.org has selected Kathy Pham, a College of Computing alumna and inaugural advisory board member, to receive the 2024 Technical Leadership Abie Award.

Pham (CS 07, M.S. 09) is among the 2024 Abie Award winners announced yesterday at this year's Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) in Philadelphia, PA.

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With more than 30,000 attendees and 425 sessions this year, the annual GHC is the largest conference for women and nonbinary people in or pursuing tech careers.

Pham's 2024 Technical Leadership Abie Award recognizes the substantial impact of her career, which she has dedicated to expanding access for underrepresented groups and creating ethical and responsible computing solutions.

Angela Tucci, chairperson of the AnitaB.org Board of Trustees, presented Pham with the award as part of GHC's opening day agenda.

"I'm pleased to present the 2024 Abie Award for Technical Leadership to Kathy Pham. She is a pioneer, visionary, and bridge builder," said Tucci, CEO Success founder. 

Tucci added that Pham's premise that technologists must balance innovation with ethical safeguards is shaping the future of responsible computing.

"Kathy has led cross-functional teams in tech, academia, nonprofits, government, and venture capital, working on ethical and responsible computing. She is also an inaugural board member of Blue Tulip Ventures, which is focused on funding responsible AI companies," said Tucci.

[RELATED: Alumna Paying it Forward to Honor Her Mother]

Pham attended the Grace Hopper Celebration for the first time in 2004 as a Georgia Tech computer science (CS) major and said the award is significant for her. 

"I'm honored beyond words. I take all the people before me who paved the way and dedicated to creating paths for future technologists," said Pham, Workday vice president for artificial intelligence (AI) and Harvard University faculty.

"We have much to celebrate and more work to do to build technology for a flourishing society for all.

"It is meaningful to me to recognize that technical leadership is the leadership that honors expertise across disciplines. It understands the power of technology to bring dignity to life and help build a flourishing society," she said.

[RELATED: Alumna Says We Must 'Get Past the Talk' in 2022 to Move Needle on Computing Equity]

A contingent of GT Computing students were in the audience when Pham received her award, which included $50,000. She used some of the prize money to provide six GHC scholarships for students to participate in this year's conference. The College provided ten GHC scholarships.

"Grace Hopper is a conference and community that has pushed me to advance my tech prowess, hone my engineering and product skills, meet collaborators throughout my career, and test new ideas," said Pham, who is teaching a course at Harvard this semester that she created.

Recent Technical Leadership Abie Award winners include:

• Fei Fei Li, Stanford University Professor
• Daphne Koller, Coursera Professor
• Lisa Su, AMD Chair and CEO
• Margaret Burnett, ACM Fellow and Oregon State University Distinguished Professor
• Nuria Olivier, ELLIS Alicante Foundation Co-founder and Scientific Director

In 2021, Pham established an endowment at Georgia Tech for CS majors with demonstrated financial need. The Mary Hương Thị Phạm Scholarship is awarded annually and honors Pham's mother, Mary, and "single parents, and resilient fighters who push for the best for themselves, their families, and their societies."