Progress Announces Second Annual Mary Székely Scholarship for Women in STEM

Designed to empower the next generation of extraordinary women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the application process is now open through March 5, 2021

BEDFORD, Mass., Jan. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS), the leading provider of products to develop, deploy and manage high-impact business applications, today announced that applications are open for the 2021 Progress Software Mary Székely Scholarship for Women in STEM. Now in its second year, the scholarship was created to honor the late Mary Székely (pronounced: “See-kay”), Progress co-founder and lead software engineer for more than 30 years. Details about the scholarship can be viewed here.

This scholarship is a four-year renewable scholarship of $10,000 annually to cover tuition, fees and educational expenses. Eligible candidates are women, or those who identify as women, who reside in Massachusetts and who are pursuing an undergraduate degree in computer science, computer information systems, software engineering, and/or IT. The application process for the 2021-22 academic year is now underway and is administered by The Philanthropic Initiative, an affiliate of The Boston Foundation.

“Forward-thinking businesses understand that diversity introduces new perspectives, enabling us to better solve the complex problems of the future. At Progress, we understand that building better technology tomorrow starts with investing in young people who are advancing the future of STEM today,” said Yogesh Gupta, CEO, Progress. “Mary was such an inspiration for women in technology. We hope this scholarship will encourage more women to pursue their studies and eliminate the gender gap of women in STEM.”

Mary Székely led development efforts at Progress for its core technology platform, Progress® OpenEdge®, for more than 30 years, from 1982 to 2013. She was a trailblazer at a time when women pursuing careers in STEM fields were rare. In addition to developing the product that would continue to drive Progress’ success, to this day, Mary had a love for math and science and was dedicated to expanding opportunities for anyone interested in the computer science field through mentorship and education.

Scholarship recipients will be chosen based on academic achievement; interest and experience in computer science, computer information systems, software engineering, and/or IT; and personal attributes that exemplify Mary Székely’s qualities. The 2020 Mary Székely Scholarship for Women in STEM was awarded to Kaya Dorogi, who is currently studying computer science at Columbia University. Kaya was selected for the scholarship because she has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, a truly entrepreneurial spirit, and because she exemplifies the qualities Mary carried with her throughout her life. Read more about her story here.

Completed applications are due March 5, 2021 by 5:00pm ET. The selected recipient will be notified in the spring and a public announcement will follow in June.

For more information, please go to https://www.progress.com/social-responsibility/mary-szekely-women-in-stem-scholarship. To submit an application, click here.

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About Progress
Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS) provides the best products to develop, deploy and manage high-impact business applications. Our comprehensive product stack is designed to make technology teams more productive and we have a deep commitment to the developer community, both open source and commercial alike. With Progress, organizations can accelerate the creation and delivery of strategic business applications, automate the process by which apps are configured, deployed and scaled, and make critical data and content more accessible and secure—leading to competitive differentiation and business success. Over 1,700 independent software vendors, 100,000+ enterprise customers, and a three-million-strong developer community rely on Progress to power their applications. Learn about Progress at www.progress.com or +1-800-477-6473. 

Progress and OpenEdge are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the US and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contacts:
Kim Baker
Progress
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