Betty Stevens-Frecknall Scholarship
About Betty Stevens-Frecknall
Betty Stevens-Frecknall began her career in computing as a cardpunch operator, training in the 1940s as a keypunch clerk, a computer repair technician, and a systems analyst. Starting as a civilian employee of the Navy in Seattle, she was soon recruited to a position at Long Beach, then became a systems analyst with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. From that point on, Betty proved herself with a series of successes on major projects, saving taxpayers millions of dollars and earning a promotion with each success. She retired at the GS-14 level as manager of a large programmer group responsible for major projects within the HUD information systems infrastructure, all with just a high school education.
Betty was very active in the Washington, D.C. Chapter of DPMA (now AITP), serving as chapter president in 1972, and was elected president of DPMA’s Mid-Atlantic Region in 1979. She was committed to growing the chapter and increasing membership, especially among women.
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 her professional and later personal friends was Grace Hopper. 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. A favorite saying of hers: “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 became successful computer analysts. Another favorite: “If you don’t watch out, you might learn something.”
Eligibility
- Declared computer science, CIS, MIS, or IT major with an overall and major GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent)
- Satisfactory completion of at least one full semester of college (12 semester hours or equivalent)
- Enrolled full time (12 semester hours or equivalent) as an undergraduate at an accredited U.S. institution
- U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident
Previous recipients
2000
Ninon Crane (Macon State College, GA)
Dustin Demmin (University of Wisconsin – Whitewater)
Tracey Pounds (Texas State Technical College – Sweetwater)
Brad Sibley (University of Southern Mississippi)
2001
Jonathan Bishop (The University of Mississippi)
Ntoh Etta (University of Wisconsin – Whitewater)
Tanyi Fouching (University of Wisconsin – Whitewater)
Louise Manning (Oklahoma Baptist University)
2002
Christopher Atkinson (DeVry Institute, MO)
Mindy Columbus (Robert Morris University, PA)
Xueqian Chen (Michigan Technological University)
Matt Fontaine (Purdue University)
Melany Howard (Chattahoochee Technical College)
Galina Ivanova (University of Alaska – Anchorage)
Terry Kidd (University of Houston)
Maxim Sorokoletov (University of Alaska – Anchorage)
2003
James Mottola (DeVry Institute – Tinley Park, IL)
Usman Uddin (The University of Mississippi)
Theresa Webb (Lindenwood University)
2004
Rhonda L. Steele (University of Alabama)
Jenny Lee Browne (Mesa Community College)
2005
Andrew Gohl (Linfield College)
Tracy Leeper (Northwestern State University)
Leslie White (Central Connecticut State University)
Sheree Ferguson (Oakland Community College)
2006
Tracy Jessie (University of Oklahoma)
Vicki Baugh (Community College of Southern Nevada)
Kelly McGrath (Texas State Technical College – Abilene)
2007
Rica Gaines (Charter College, AK)
Jamie Schroeder (ITT Technical Institute, Nashville)
Jenna Nisbett (Texas State University)
2008
Robert Paul (Midwestern State University)
Sharon Anderson (The Catholic University of America)
Fernando Martinez (ITT Tech, Mesa)
2009
Carice Poston (University of Dayton)
Frank Walker (Bellevue University)
2010
David Christo (Loyola University Maryland)
Rachelle Hademenos (ITT Technical Institute, Houston)
Pallavi Laxane (Texas Tech University)
2011
Kakia Brock (University of Phoenix)
Monica Santa (Kaplan University, Ft. Lauderdale)
2012
Alexander Leonhard (Quinnipiac University)
William Parks (Oklahoma Panhandle State University)
2013
Cheryl Kay Books (Fox Valley Technical College)
Anthony Reynolds (Blackhawk Technical College)
2014
Mary Elizabeth Ulam (Texas State University)
Joey Kilmartin (Murray State University)
Jessica Pearce (University of Texas, Arlington)
2015
Quanda Moore (ITT Technical Institute)
Jared Landis (Malone University)
Jeremy Beachy (DeVry University)
2016
Madilyn Rider (Oklahoma Panhandle State University)
Albert Appouh (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
Mignon Kramp (Laguna College of Art and Design)
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)
2025
Brady Cronen (Southwest Minnesota State University)
Sydney Gottel (Grove City College)
Azzurai Rainey (North Carolina A&T State University)
Trevor Skinner (Oklahoma State University)