Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE received an honorary degree from the University for her work to support thousands of girls, women and non-binary people into science and tech.
Tech pioneer Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE has been awarded an honorary degree by the University of Bath in recognition of her extraordinary work to foster a diverse community in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM).
Dr Imafidon received the honorary Doctor of Science degree at a ceremony at Bath Abbey on Thursday (18 Jan) in front of hundreds of graduating students, their families and friends.
A computer scientist, mathematician, and social entrepreneur, Dr Imafidon is the co-founder and CEO of Stemettes, a social enterprise that has inspired and supported thousands of girls, young women and non-binary young people to pursue careers in STEM by providing free resources, workshops, hackathons, mentoring and more.
Fascinated by technology from her early years, she became the youngest girl to pass A-Level Computing at the age of 11, and received a Master’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford at 20. She went on to hold positions at major corporations before co-founding Stemettes in 2013 to pursue her vision of a more balanced and diverse science and tech community. In 2021 she joined Channel 4’s countdown as temporary arithmetician to cover Rachel Riley’s maternity leave.
Accepting the award at the University’s Winter graduation ceremony, Dr Imafidon said: “The work I do is as important now has it was when I started Stemettes more than 10 years ago. The STEM field and broader STEAM field shape life as we know it, and are having impact on all of society. This recognition signals the importance of the change I’d like to see – a more balanced science & tech community across Academia, Industry and Entrepreneurship. Thanks for recognising this – here's to long overdue improvement in the experiences of women and nonbinary folk across technical spaces.”
Dr Özgür Şimşek, Deputy Head of the Department of Computer Science, gave the oration at the award ceremony. She said: “I’m delighted that the University has recognised Anne-Marie with an honorary degree, in recognition of her impact in inspiring, supporting, and promoting the next generation of young women and non-binary young people in STEM.
“She is truly an inspiration and I’m sure our graduating students will use her wise words and example as they move onto the next stage of their careers. I would like to congratulate Dr Imafidon and all our graduating students, and wish them all continued success in the future.”
Dr Imafidon was awarded an MBE in 2017 for her services to young women and STEM sectors. She served as the 2022-2023 President of the British Science Association and currently sits on the Council of Research England. In 2020 she was voted the ‘Most Influential Woman in Tech in the UK’ by Computer Weekly and in 2022 released “She’s in CTRL”, a book exploring why women are under-represented in tech, why it matters, and what can be done about it.