About Betty Stevens Frecknall

Betty Stevens-Frecknall began her career in computers as a cardpunch operator. She trained in the 1940's as a keypunch clerk, a computer repair technician, and a systems analyst. Starting as a civilian employee of the Navy in Seattle, Betty was soon recruited to a position at Long Beach. Following this, she obtained a position as a systems analyst with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. From this point on, Betty proved herself with a series of successes on major projects, saving the taxpayers millions of dollars and gaining a promotion with each success.

During these years, Betty was very active in the Washington D.C. Chapter of DPMA (now known as AITP), serving as chapter president in 1972. She was committed to developing the chapter and increasing membership, especially among women. She later was active on the Mid-Atlantic Region (Region XI) of DPMA and was elected Region president in 1979. Betty also served as the president of her Toastmasters chapter, and was very active in recruiting new members into that organization. Betty retired at a level of GS14 as manager of a large programmer group responsible for major projects within the HUD information systems infrastructure--all with just a high school education.

One of very few women in a strongly male-dominated field, Betty was an advocate of equal opportunity and access to career advancement for all qualified workers. One of Betty's professional and later personal friends was Grace Hopper, the legendary "Mother of Computing". They shared a razor sharp wit and a passion for knowledge, excellence, gender equality, and education.

Betty was a strong advocate of self-improvement through education. Betty was always taking classes, and a favorite saying of hers was "Learn or die--and when you stop learning you start dying." She put herself through her computer training, then put her husband through the same course of study. Both went on to become successful computer analysts. She encouraged her children and stepchildren to pursue higher education, and was always generous in helping them to achieve their educational dreams. Another favorite saying of Betty's was "If you don't watch out, you might learn something."

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Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

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Previous Recipients

2000	Ninon Crane (Macon State College (GA)) Dustin Demmin (University of Wisconsin - Whitewater (WI)) Tracey Pounds (Texas State Technical College - Sweetwater (TX)) Brad Sibley (University of Southern Mississippi (MS))
2001	Jonathan Bishop (The University of Mississippi (MS)) Ntoh Etta (The University of Wisconsin - Whitewater (WI)) Tanyi Fouching (The University of Wisconsin - Whitewater (WI)) Louise Manning (Oklahoma Baptist University (OK))
2002	Christopher Atkinson (DeVry Institute (MO)) Mindy Columbus (Robert Morris University (PA)) Xueqian Chen (Michigan Technological University (MI)) Matt Fontaine (Purdue University (IN)) Melany Howard (Chattahoochee Technical College (GA)) Galina Ivanova (The University of Alaska - Anchorage (AK)) Terry Kidd (The University of Houston (TX)) Maxim Sorokoletov (The University of Alaska - Anchorage (AK))
2003	James Mottola (Devry Institute - Tinley Park (IL)) Usman Uddin (The University of Mississippi (MS)) Theresa Webb (Lindenwood University (MO))
2004	Rhonda L. Steele (University of Alabama (AL)) Jenny Lee Browne (Mesa Community College (AZ))
2005	Andrew Gohl (Linfield College (OR)) Tracy Leeper (Northwestern State University (LA)) Leslie White (Central Connecticut State University (CT)) Sheree Ferguson (Oakland Community College (MI))
2006	Tracy Jessie (University of Oklahoma (OK)) Vicki Baugh (Community College of Southern Nevada (NV)) Kelly McGrath (Texas State Technical College - Abilene (TX))
2007	Rica Gaines (Charter College (AK)) Jamie Schroeder (ITT Technical Institute, Nashville (TN)) Jenna Nisbett (Texas State University (TX)) Alyssa Wagenmaker (University of Michigan) Morgan King (Trinity University, San Antonio) Erica Fagnan (University of California, Santa Barbara)
2008	Robert Paul (Midwestern State University (TX)) Sharon Anderson (The Catholic University of America (DC)) Fernando Martinez (ITT Tech, Mesa (AZ)) Jasmine Stone (Yale University) Thelma Nora (Chattahoochee Technical College) Madilyn Rider (Oklahoma Panhandle State University)
2009	Carice Poston (University of Dayton (OH)) Frank Walker (Bellevue University (NE)) Jasmine Stone (Yale University) Niki Amini-Naieni (Cornell University) Eldon Luk (University of Virginia)
2010	David Christo (Loyola University Maryland (MD)) Rachelle Hademenos (ITT Technical Institute, Houston (TX)) Pallavi Laxane (Texas Tech University (TX)) Eugene Kim (Columbia University) Marium Abdulla (University of Texas at Dallas) Elijah Ness (Dakota State University)
2011	Alexander Armentrout (George Mason University (VA)) Kakia Brock (University of Phoenix (AZ)) Monica Santa (Kaplan University, Ft. Lauderdale (FL)) Alissa Morgan (Colorado State University) Arushi Harkawat (University of Texas at Austin) Olivia Gallucci (Rochester Institute of Technology)
2012	Sarah Reimer (University of Wisconsin - La Crosse (WI)) Alexander Leonhard (Quinnipac University (CT)) William Parks (Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OK)) Ashlyn Hansen (University of Utah) Jared Bates (Southwest Baptist University) Misty Kurien (Baylor University)
2013	Taylor J. Bunkley (University of West Georgia (GA)) Cheryl Kay Books (Fox Valley Technical College (WI)) Anthony Reynolds (Blackhawk Technical College (WI)) Olivia Casenhiser (Ohio University) Zachary Plotkin (Princeton University)
2014	Mary Elizabeth Ulam (Texas State University (TX)) Joey Kilmartin (Murray State University (KY)) Jessica Pearce (University of Texas, Arlington (TX)) Camden Redden (Texas A&M University) Joel Beauregard (University of Texas at Arlington) Gabriel Schreiber (University of Florida) Devon Woodfine (Arizona State University)
2015	Quanda Moore (ITT Technical Institute) Jared Landis (Malone University (OH)) Jeremy Beachy (DeVry University)
2016	Justin M. Hixson (Liberty University (VA)) Madilyn Rider (Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OK)) Albert Appouh (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (NJ)) Mignon Kramp (Laguna College of Art and Design (CA))
2017	Alyssa Wagenmaker (University of Michigan) Morgan King (Trinity University, San Antonio) Erica Fagnan (University of California, Santa Barbara)
2018	Jasmine Stone (Yale University) Thelma Nora (Chattahoochee Technical College) Madilyn Rider (Oklahoma Panhandle State University)
2019	Jasmine Stone (Yale University) Niki Amini-Naieni (Cornell University) Eldon Luk (University of Virginia)
2020	Eugene Kim (Columbia University) Marium Abdulla (University of Texas at Dallas) Elijah Ness (Dakota State University)
2021	Alissa Morgan (Colorado State University) Arushi Harkawat (University of Texas at Austin) Olivia Gallucci (Rochester Institute of Technology)
2022	Ashlyn Hansen (University of Utah) Jared Bates (Southwest Baptist University) Misty Kurien (Baylor University)
2023	Olivia Casenhiser (Ohio University) Zachary Plotkin (Princeton University)
2024	Camden Redden (Texas A&M University) Joel Beauregard (University of Texas at Arlington) Gabriel Schreiber (University of Florida) Devon Woodfine (Arizona State University)