Female students are encouraged to attend the Women in Technology forum Thursday, March 31 to hear from successful women in the industry. Photo by Cynthia Joyce
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi and software firm SAP invite all female Ole Miss students to attend the March 31 Women in Technology summit, featuring successful women in a range of careers within the technology field.
“You don’t have to be a computer science or MIS major to have a career that involves technology,” said panelist Regina Kunkle, SAP vice president of local government and higher education. “These days, most businesses and educational organizations are infused with technology. Everyone is impacted by technology in one way or another.”
The Women in Technology summit is set for 2:45 to 5 p.m. in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom of the Inn at Ole Miss. The event is free, but registration is required.
The event offers information that may open new career possibilities, said Kathy Gates, UM chief information officer for information technology. Two of the panelists have undergraduate degrees in the humanities but are working in tech-related fields, she said.
“One as the CEO of a start-up and another as a product manager for a company that makes data analytics software,” Gates said. “This event is for all majors and will help students see career opportunities that they may not have been aware of before.”
Panelists will discuss challenges in the technology industry and what it takes to become a successful leader. The discussion will be moderated by Cynthia Joyce, UM assistant professor of journalism and editor of “Please Forward: How blogging reconnected New Orleans after Katrina” (2015, UNO Press).
Other featured panelists include:
– Nena Ballas, product consulting manager at Tableau Software
– Constance Bland, vice president of academic affairs at Mississippi Valley State University
– Sally Doty, Mississippi state senator
– Carolyn Parent, CEO and president of LiveSafe
– Kamal Vijayakumar, senior developer in Cloud Human Capital Management Engineering for SAP SuccessFactors
– Elizabeth Walden, an incoming master’s student in the cybersecurity program at Marymount University
– Kat Walsh, regional manager of the DataCenter Architecture Team at SLED East Cisco
Female students are encouraged to attend the event to network with technology leaders and enter for a chance to win an Apple Watch and other prizes.
Visit http://olemiss.edu/umwit2016/ to register.