Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
I’m an electrical engineer who enjoys listening to and sharing stories of ordinarily extraordinary women that work in STEM fields. The women featured on these episodes work in different STEM fields, are at different phases in their careers, and bring their unique perspectives and stories. I am endlessly fascinated by what these women do, how they have navigated their careers, balanced families, and why they made the career choices they did. Most STEM fields are dominated by men which makes for unique circumstances for women to navigate. It’s a privilege to be able to share their stories through this podcast.
Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
112. Sherry Shannon - Vanstone; Serial Entrepreneur; Cryptological Mathematician; BS Mathematics
Sherry Shannon - Vanstone is a serial entrepreneur. She started her career as a cryptology mathematician in the US government, then went on to work at a start up in Silicon Valley. She then went on to co-found and found companies specializing in security and her latest company, Profound Impact, a female-founded, Canadian data analytics company that leverages AI and machine learning to provide solutions for the higher education and research sectors. She has a BS degree in Mathematics and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws.
What do we talk about in this episode?
Sherry shares her passion for promoting women in STEM and women in sports. Sherry began her career in cryptology as a code breaker over 40 years ago. She shares her experience as a woman working in this field so many years ago. She shares her experience in Silicon Valley and then working in security and encryption founding and co-foudning companies with her husband and later on on her own.
- How she brings her "why" into her work and other ventures.
- Being a code breaker for the government is indeed as cool as it sounds!
- How a university president changed her course of study and got her into mathematics - our supporters and champions are so important.
- How she met her husband - at a mathematics conference!! (There has to be an equation for that!)
- Her experience trying to get funding, her work on changing the VC world for female founders and opportunities we may all have to make change in this space.
Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio
You can support my podcast on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/user?u=72701887
Resources
Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics is an independent research centre in foundational theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. (Wikipedia)
The Emmy Noether Council works collectively with Perimeter to increase the number of women in physics and drive the philanthropic support that will advance women at critical stages of their education and careers at Perimeter and beyond. They are specifically focused on leading the growth of the Emmy Noether Emerging Talent Fund, an endowment devoted to providing support and programming for exceptional PhD students at Perimeter. (https://perimeterinstitute.ca/emmy-noether-council)
Golden Triangle Angel Networks one of Canada’s most active and longest-established angel investment clubs. (https://www.goldentriangleangelnet.ca)
