{"172241":{"#nid":"172241","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Rhodes Scholar Shows \u2018Compassion through Computation\u2019","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom her high school bedroom in Memphis, Tenn., Joy Buolamwini realized she could change the world with technology as she created a website for the Ethiopian Embassy in the Ivory Coast. This was one of the first times, but certainly not the last, that her computing skills would have a global effect.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBorn in Canada to African parents and having lived in Ghana, Barcelona, Memphis and Atlanta, Buolamwini truly considers herself a global citizen. Next year, she\u2019ll take her talents to the U.K. where she\u2019ll study Global Governance and Diplomacy and African Studies at the University of Oxford as a 2013 Rhodes Scholar. The Rhodes Scholarship is recognized as the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship award in the world. The Rhodes Scholarship Trust bestows its honor on just 32 U.S. students a year, and each is given the opportunity to pursue a secondary degree at the University of Oxford.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERhodes is not the first prestigious fellowship program to recognize Buolamwini\u2019s enterprising spirit. She\u2019s also a 2013 Fulbright scholar and will use her grant to improve access to education in Zambia. Her past experience developing web and mobile applications for Atlanta\u2019s Teach for America schools will inform Buolamwini\u2019s efforts with the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/developzambia.org\u0022\u003EZambian Institute for Sustainable Development\u003C\/a\u003E to create a program that gives students a foundation in information technology, mobile software development and entrepreneurship.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELife at Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EComing to Tech as a computer science major and Stamps President\u2019s Scholar in 2008, Buolamwini spent the past four years growing her skills and flourishing in finding ways to employ them. She interned at Yahoo, worked at the Carter Center, founded multiple startup companies and earned numerous competitive scholarships, including the Google Anita Borg Scholarship and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/astronautscholarship.org\/\u0022\u003EAstronaut Scholarship\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHaving people around Georgia Tech who were affiliated with the startup community really inspired me,\u201d she said. Her first innovative venture at Tech was with the Institute\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/inventureprize.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInVenture Prize\u003C\/a\u003E, where Buolamwini was the youngest finalist in 2009. \u201cThe most valuable thing was the confidence I gained and realizing I could put something out in the world and make it become a reality. Everything became an opportunity after that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Everything\u0022 is the operative word: Buolamwini has researched human-robot interaction to support early diagnosis of autism, been a guest writer for Newsweek and won countless awards for her computing prowess. The former pole vaulter stayed active in student activities, once scoring five touchdowns in a Homecoming powderpuff football game. Ultimately, her various pursuits have been in the name of serving others with technology, motivated by the idea of \u201ccompassion through computation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut, to those who know her, what makes Buolamwini different is the character behind the laundry list of accomplishments and accolades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cShe has an integrity to herself that is really unusual,\u201d said Merrick Furst, distinguished professor and founder of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/flashpoint.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EFlashpoint\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech\u2019s startup incubator from which one of Buolamwini\u2019s companies graduated. \u201cIt\u2019s not that Joy does one thing well, it\u2019s that her talent is a well, coupled with a remarkable boundless generative energy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom Atlanta to Africa\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a technical consultant at the Carter Center, Buolamwini created a mobile surveying solution to digitize a paper-based health assessment system used for working with trachoma in Ethiopia. In just 10 weeks, her team developed the necessary technology and she traveled to Ethiopia to pilot the system against its paper predecessor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Assumptions I made while developing the software in the U.S. were often invalidated, leading to changes made under my mosquito net as dawn approached,\u0022 she said.\u0026nbsp;\u201cI realize[d] I cannot remain in a cultural cocoon centered on technology alone. No initiative can reach maximum impact without understanding the needs of all stakeholders and mechanisms.\u201d\u0026nbsp;The work led to the successful implementation of a survey to 40,000 people that could ultimately serve 17 million in the effort to eradicate trachoma in the region.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI want to use mobile technology to address grand challenges in education and health while uplifting African nations,\u201d she said. \u201cI also want to encourage more women and underrepresented groups in computer science to not just be consumers of technology, but full participants in its creation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAs an Alumna\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince graduating from Tech in May, Buolamwini, along with three other Tech alumnae, founded a hair technology company called \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/techturized.com\u0022\u003ETechturized\u003C\/a\u003E. The company creates personalized recommendations, a market need Buolamwini observed through her own experience of \u201cgoing natural\u201d with her hair. Techturized also highlights the role that hair plays in women\u2019s lives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cJoy has a unique skill set in understanding the technology as well as the people,\u201d said Randy McDow, executive director of the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation, and director of the President\u2019s Scholarship Program at the time Buolamwini was named a Stamps scholar. True to the name of her freelance web development company, Jovial Designs, \u201cShe\u2019s fun to talk to and doesn\u2019t offer a tired or boring view of the world. She really wants to make positive changes and makes you want to be a part of that. She embodies her name so well.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf it seems as though Buolamwini\u2019s accomplishments never stop, it\u2019s because neither does she.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI can get exhausted just thinking about what Joy accomplishes, and, for her, she\u2019s just being Joy and the world is getting better,\u201d Furst said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBuolamwini\u2019s philosophy is that success never happens in isolation. \u201cAt Tech, I have been surrounded by so many people who cared to nurture me as a student, an entrepreneur and a leader, while reminding me that reaching out to help others is the greatest achievement one can have.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson connected Buolamwini\u2019s story and the Rhodes Scholarship with Tech\u2019s overarching purpose. \u201cOur goal at Georgia Tech is to prepare innovators and leaders who will use their academic experience to change the world,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u201cThrough the Rhodes Scholarship, Joy will be able to do just that, and we at Georgia Tech are tremendously proud of her accomplishments and potential.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs she departs for Zambia early next year, Buolamwini will take on an advisory role at Techturized. She will return from Zambia just in time for Sailing Weekend, a tradition among Rhodes Scholars to coordinate their September travel to Oxford. After an initial gathering of winners and past Rhodes Scholars over the weekend, Buolamwini is excited about embracing her new community.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThey\u2019re successful, smart, capable people. They make you feel like the world is going to be OK.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJoy Buolamwini, a 2012 computer science alumnua, will study\u0026nbsp;Global Governance and Diplomacy and African Studies at the University of Oxford as a 2013 Rhodes Scholar.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Joy Buolamwini, a 2012 computer science graduate, will study Global Governance and Diplomacy and African Studies at the University of Oxford as a 2013 Rhodes Scholar."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2012-11-20 09:55:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:14","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"172251":{"id":"172251","type":"image","title":"Joy Buolamwini","body":null,"created":"1449178999","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:19","changed":"1475894814","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:54","alt":"Joy Buolamwini","file":{"fid":"195751","name":"joy2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/joy2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/joy2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":465775,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/joy2_0.jpg?itok=oXA_sT_V"}}},"media_ids":["172251"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.rhodesscholarshiptrust.com\/rhodes-scholars-elect-class-of-2013","title":"Rhodes Trust Elects 2013 Scholars"},{"url":"http:\/\/gatech.edu\/newsroom\/release.html?nid=171801","title":"Georgia Tech Alumna"},{"url":"http:\/\/psp.gatech.edu\/pages\/prospective\/stamps.php","title":"Stamps Leadership Scholars"},{"url":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/techturized","title":"Techturized on Facebook"},{"url":"http:\/\/fellowships.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Fellowships Office"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"5731","name":"fellowships"},{"id":"10479","name":"Joy Buolamwini"},{"id":"14758","name":"President\u0027s Scholar"},{"id":"3284","name":"Rhodes Scholarship"},{"id":"166847","name":"students"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}