Professor Sue Black is a British computer scientist, academic and social entrepreneur. She has been named in the list of Top 50 Women in Tech in Europe and winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lovie Awards 2018, making her one of the leading tech personalities in the UK today.
At the earliest legal age of 16, Sue dropped out of school and left home. At 25, she was a single mother of three living in a women’s refuge, but she didn’t let her obstacles hold her back. She started to take math access courses at night school that led to enrolling in London South Bank University where she received a bachelor’s degree in computing. Eight years later, she went on to earn her PhD in software engineering for research on the ripple effect.
In 2003, Sue started raising awareness and funding through a blog for the restoration of Bletchley Park, the UK World War II Centre for decrypting enemy messages. Photos on her blog of one of the huts with a blue tarpaulin protecting the deteriorating structure gained interest among numerous computer scientists. She continued her outreach on Twitter, which helped attract even more followers. By the end of 2015, she had published a book, Saving Bletchley Park, about the process that was funded via Unbound, later becoming the fastest crowdfunding book of all time.
In 2017, she received the Social Impact ABIE Award at the Grace Hopper Celebration and sits on the Government’s new advisory board for improving digital services.
After spending the last 20 years campaigning for more recognition and support for women in computing and tech, she founded #techmums, which helps train women in key areas of technology and computing to allow them to enter a new career path, feel confident returning to work or setting up their own business.
Since 2018, she has been a Professor in Computer Science and a Technology Evangelist at Durham University. Her role as a professor combines her research interests with the opportunity to inspire and motivate others in the field.
Professor Sue Black is an inspiration to many women in STEM as she continues to push the boundaries in her community and around the globe.
We look forward to hearing her speak at WE Local London!
