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Yi Gu

The scholarship recipient is chosen based on the strength of academic background and demonstrated leadership. Gu’s research interests include high performance computing, parallel and distributed computing, wireless sensor networks, and cyber security.

Established by Google in 2004, the scholarship honors Dr. Anita Borg, a computer science pioneer who dedicated her life to changing the way we think about diversity and technology. The award supports undergraduate and post-graduate women who are completing degrees in computer science and related areas.

This year Google is presenting the awards to 62 scholars and finalists in the United States, 17 in Canada, and 91 in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. In addition to receiving academic scholarships, all of the winners are invited to participate in all-expenses-paid scholars’ retreats featuring workshops, speakers, panelists, breakout sessions, and social activities at Google headquarters in California in June.

“The list of finalists and recipients for this prestigious scholarship is largely dominated by schools like MIT, Stanford, Princeton and Carnegie Mellon University,” said Dr. Qishi Wu, assistant professor of computer science at the University of Memphis. “Ms. Yi Gu’s selection as a finalist indicates that the quality of the U of M’s best students is comparable to that of those at top-tier universities in the U.S., which is really encouraging.”

Gu earned her MS degree in computer science from the U of M in 2008 and her BS degree from Jiangsu University in Zhenjiang, China. She is a graduate teaching assistant in the U of M’s Department of Computer Science.  Last summer she interned at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She has contributed to nine journal articles and book chapters and presented at numerous workshops and conferences.

“Yi Gu has a strong interest in science, great passion for excellence, outstanding talent for research, and most important, an extremely high degree of diligence,” Wu said. “It is truly a great honor for her, our group, the department, and the university. She deserves this honor because of her extraordinary accomplishments through years of continuous hard work. Yi has the potential to be one of tomorrow’s top researchers in computer science.”

In addition to her academic life, Gu is a member of the Tennessee Wushu Team, made up of about 30 children and 20 adults. (Wushu is an exhibition and contact sport based on traditional Chinese martial arts.) The team has held training sessions with a Chinese provincial Wushu team and had a cultural exchange with a local Wushu organization. Gu has won two gold medals in Tai Chi and sword events. She organized and choreographed a Tai Chi fan performance for the 2008 Memphis Chinese Spring Festival.

A native of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, China, she is the daughter of Zhenhua Gu and Linmei Yin.