Ada Lovelace Day post

For  Ada Lovelace Day the subject of my blog post is Lynette Willoughby.

I met Lynette in 1992. It was my first day in a new job and I as feeling pretty unsure of myself. The first person I met that day was Lynette. She took me for coffee and that was the beginning of our friendship. She is an amazing person, a true friend. She helped me get to grips with my new job as a university lecturer, passing on her experience, offering moral support and encouragement, as well as sharing her expertise in teaching computing.

Born near Hull, Lynette was brought up in London, the youngest of the family with four older brothers. At school she discovered a passion for maths and physics, and studied electronic engineering at university. When Lynette told people she wanted to be an engineer, the reaction was ˜that’s a strange thing for a girl to want to do’. She actually disliked the course, but stuck it out and became much more interested in teaching - from her experiences she was very aware of the difference between what she describes as good and bad teaching. She developed a passion for assembly language programming after her degree. Her career has involved teaching at East Leeds Women’s workshop, the Open University, and Leeds Met.

During her career as an academic she has inspired thousands of students to pursue their goals. Her warmth, energy, passion and enthusiasm for her subject mean that she is a true inspiration. Lynette strives to provide the best experience for her students, always going the extra mile to make her classes interactive, fun, challenging and meaningful.

Lynette has been actively involved in women in technology debates for thirty-five years, and is a fantastic role model for women. She has been a member of the Women’s Engineering Society, which was founded in 1919 to encourage women to become engineers. Lynette’s first WES meeting was a revelation to her. Having become used to being the only woman in the workplace, which she enjoyed, and never felt to be an obstacle, it was a great feeling to be in an environment where she was not the only woman; where she was with a group of people who had similar experiences. Lynette was elected as President of WES in 1992. This meant that she had the honour of having her birthday printed in the Guardian.

She still gets excited about learning something new and making new friends. When she enters the room, you just can’t help but notice her. She tends to leap around and wave her arms, usually because she is excited about something new which she wants to share with everyone. She is an accomplished artist. She likes to collect dead animal skulls. She loves architecture, travelling, art, knitting, photography, and life generally. She has a tremendous spirit of adventure, and an endless enthusiasm for making a difference in the world.  In 2001 she spent six months in Shimshal in Pakistan, working in a school in a remote village. When she returned it was clear from the change in her physical appearance that conditions had been harsh.

You may have met Lynette at the recent Leeds Girl Geek Dinners. If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her, I would be very happy to introduce you to her at the next one.

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