Kount on Stem: Eileen Barber Donates $250,000 to Boise State University
BOISE, IDAHO (PRWEB) August 15, 2016 -- Kount Inc. announced today that Eileen Barber, co-founder of its former parent company Keynetics, has donated $250,000 to Boise State University (BSU) for the Kount Tutoring Center housed within the new location for the Department of Computer Science in the Clearwater Building on The Grove in downtown Boise. With plans to open this fall, the center will offer students a new community facility with state-of-the-art technology, along with a support staff consisting of students and faculty from the computer science department.
There are over half a million unfilled science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs today – a number that is projected to increase to 2.4 million by 2018, according to recent White House figures – and Barber’s donation on behalf of Kount aims to combat this staggering trend and encourage STEM opportunities to an untapped talent pool.
“STEM careers are incredibly rewarding careers that most females, minorities, and economically disadvantaged students historically were not encouraged to pursue,” said Eileen Barber. “I hope that this donation, among others of its kind, fosters more opportunities for women in computer science and other science and engineering fields and continues to support the university’s program.”
Barber, who has been involved in the continued growth and expansion of Keynetics’ subsidiaries ClickBank and leading fraud and risk management innovator Kount, has been a long proponent of encouraging enrollment in STEM education. Along with the Kount Tutoring Center, she has also established a number of scholarship opportunities for women in computer science, including the Keynetics Inc. Computer Science Scholarship for Women, a presidential-endowed scholarship established in 2009, and the Ada Lovelace Computer Science Scholarship for Women, established March 2013 to provide recognition of the world’s first computer scientist, Ada, Countess of Lovelace. Additionally, Barber donates annually to the university’s E-Girls summer engineering program for high school students.
“We are grateful for Eileen’s continued contributions and tireless dedication to underrepresented students in STEM education and look forward to opening the new tutoring center for our growing community,” said Amy Moll, Dean of Engineering, Boise State University. “Since the founding of Eileen’s scholarships in 2009, enrollment in the department has increased significantly, especially among women. These contributions have not only afforded students with financial support, but also instilled greater confidence in their pursuit of careers in this field.”
“Not only are students who graduate from Boise State’s top-notch computer science program in high-demand and incredibly qualified, the university is also one of the top-rated schools in terms of faculty, with women making up 25 percent of its STEM educators,” said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO of Kount. “I am proud to support the growing tech talent in Boise, and encourage my fellow industry leaders to create, recognize, and champion even more opportunities for the community.”
The relocation of the fast-growing Department of Computer Science places students just steps from the companies seeking to bring them on as interns and hire them when they graduate, and positions computer science students for long-term success.
About Kount
Kount helps businesses boost sales by reducing fraud. Our all-in-one, SaaS platform simplifies fraud detection and helps online businesses accept more orders. Kount’s turnkey fraud platform is easy-to-implement and easy-to-use. Kount’s proprietary technology has reviewed billions of transactions and provides maximum protection for some of the world’s best-known brands. Merchants using Kount can accept more orders from more people in more places than ever before. For more information about Kount, please visit http://www.kount.com.
About Boise State University
A public metropolitan research university with more than 22,000 students, Boise State is proud to be powered by creativity and innovation. Located in Idaho’s capital city, the university has a growing research agenda and plays a crucial role in the region’s knowledge economy and famed quality of life. In the past 10 years, the university has quadrupled the number of doctoral degrees, doubled its masters degrees and now offers 13 online degree programs. Learn more at http://www.boisestate.edu/.
Nikki Neumann, Dotted Line Communications, +1 (518) 669-6455, [email protected]
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