I was delighted to hear this morning that Beti Williams had been made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to women in sciences, engineering and technology in the 2012 New Year Honours List (full open data list of recipients here).
Beti has worked tirelessly on promoting computer science and IT careers in Wales, primarily as Director of ITWales for 15 years and a founder of BCS Women in Wales. Prior to her retirement, Beti was instrumental in obtaining EU funding for two projects worth £20m: Software Alliance Wales (creation of a pan-Wales knowledge network for software developers) and Technocamps (which aims to promote and support the study of computer science in schools and colleges). In 1996, Beti was a finalist in the Welsh Woman of the Year and in 2006 was the winner of the Best Woman in Technology (Public Sector/Academia category) in the Blackberry Woman of the Year Awards.
Thoroughly deserved. Congratulations Beti!
Digital, Data & Policy 
Beti definitely deserves recognition for her efforts however it is amusing how many people name drop to try and gain recognition for themselves. “I once worked with Beti Williams!” for example. Such people need to take a lesson from Beti, who made her own efforts to improve the IT sector and didn’t rely on name dropping to reach her goals.
Indeed; but I imagine this is the case for anyone who gets (inter)national recognition for their achievements — everyone wants a piece of the action; I think Beti will be a very popular lady over the coming months! But I’m sure she knows how to handle the attention.
(N.B. it’s interesting to see that even universities are not immune to this phenomenon…a.k.a. “The Nobel Laureate Timeshare“)
Thanks for your blog post Tom – I have included it in our latest tweet. We hope to do a press release on her achievement this week. Speak soon.
Michael
Technocamps Communications Co-ordinator
Congratulations Beti, a much deserved acknowledgement of your dedicated and passionate work that has made a positive difference for women in Wales. A big thank you too for your support for Chwarae Teg over the years, it’s been very much appreciated.