Opening Plenary: Kathy Kleiman
President and Co-Founder, ENIAC Programmers Project
Author, Historian, Professor and Internet policy leader, Kathryn Kleiman discovered the ENIAC Programmers and their pioneering work with the world’s first general-purpose, programmable, electronic computer, ENIAC. Overlooked by historians for 60 years, Kleiman discovered that six young women programmed the ENIAC as part of a secret U.S. Army project during WWII. By the time she tracked them down, they were in their seventies. Digging deeply into the archives of Harvard University, and later, the Library of Congress, she researched the ENIAC and their work, raised funds and recorded extensive broadcast-quality oral histories. These interviews became the basis of two award-winning projects: Her book, Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer (IEEE Middleton Award) and documentary short: The Computers: The Remarkable Story of the ENIAC Programmers (Grand Jury Prize, United Nations Association Film Festival).
Kleiman is president of the ENIAC Programmers Project, a non-profit 501(c)(3) sharing these inspiring stories and working to open the doors of computing and STEM to everyone! She is a professional speaker, keynotes conferences, including SIGGRAPH, and has spoken coast-to-coast from UCLA to Princeton, across Europe and around the world. Kleiman continues her original research diving into vision and goals of UNIVAC I, the world’s first commercial computer – created by the ENIAC Team to be a computer for all!
When not researching computer history, Kleiman is a lawyer, teaches Internet Technology & Governance at American University Washington College of Law, and negotiates key policies for the Internet infrastructure and global Domain Name System (DNS). She is part of the group that founded the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and co-founder of its Noncommercial Users Constituency. As part of its Multistakeholder model, she has joined and led ICANN working groups, review teams and task forces. For over 25 years, she has pursued fair and balanced policies for the DNS protecting free speech, fair use, privacy and due process.
Kleiman graduated from Harvard College and Boston University School of Law, both with honors. She was born in Washington DC, grew up in Ohio, and now lives near Washington DC with her husband Mark. She has two adult children in STEM careers.
In this 80th year of the ENIAC, Kleiman is dedicated to sharing stories of the ENIAC and its inspiring pioneers!
Closing Plenary: Thomas Wlodkowski
Vice President of Accessibility, Comcast
Thomas Wlodkowski is Vice President of Accessibility at Comcast, where he is responsible for the company’s enterprise-wide strategy to deliver accessible, inclusive customer and employee-facing experiences and accessible customer support. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in accessible media and technology, with a career spanning more than three decades at the intersection of broadcast, cable, internet, and consumer technology.
Under his leadership, Comcast has delivered several industry-first accessibility innovations, including Voice Guidance on Xfinity X1, the industry’s first talking guide that enables people who are blind or have low vision to independently navigate their television experience. The feature has received multiple honors, including the FCC Chairman’s Award for Advancements in Accessibility. Comcast also introduced hardware and service innovations, such as the award-winning Xfinity Large Button Voice Remote, a dedicated support center for customers with disabilities including support in American Sign Language (ASL), an enterprise Accessibility Lab, and expanded audio description and assistive technology support across Comcast’s platforms.
Tom began his career at WGBH’s Media Access Group in Boston, home to the Descriptive Video Service and the National Center for Accessible Media, where he contributed to early innovations in audio description and accessible media standards. Before joining Comcast in June 2012, Wlodkowski was Director of Accessibility at AOL, where he led efforts to advance accessibility across web, video, mobile, and desktop platforms at scale.
A graduate of Boston College, Wlodkowski serves on the Boards of Directors for the American Foundation for the Blind, National Braille Press, Disability:IN and the Pennsylvania Chapter of Adaptive Sports.