Tech wiz a master coder in mostly male field

By Brian McNeill

Published: May 9, 2008

Growing up in Zion Crossroads, Candice Clowater was bitten by the computer bug at an early age.

Her mother, an accountant, would give her office’s outdated computers to Clowater’s older brother. When a newer model arrived, Clowater would get her brother’s hand-me-downs.

In high school at the Open Door Christian School in Troy, she learned Visual Basic and other programming languages. She discovered she had a knack for computer science.

“I grew up with computers,” the 19-year-old Clowater said. “I enjoy it. I excelled at programming. It’s like a puzzle. I love putting everything together in its place.”

When Clowater graduates from Piedmont Virginia Community College this evening, she will be the school’s first female graduate with a degree in computer science. Piedmont began offering the program during the 2005-06 academic year.

Clowater is one of 373 students graduating from Piedmont today. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will deliver the commencement address.

During her two years at PVCC, Clowater often found herself as the only woman in the classroom. Yet, she said, the gender imbalance never bothered her.

“They were all pretty accepting of me,” she said. “They liked the fact that I was willing to go into a more male-oriented area.”

In her computer programming classes, Clowater was seen by her peers as a leader, said one of her instructors, David Duvall-Early. Clowater tutored several of her computer science classmates. And she was the recipient of PVCC’s Outstanding Computer Science Student of the Year award at the school’s academic award ceremony in April.

“Candice performed so well in her classes that the other students typically viewed her as a budding computer scientist without regard to her gender,” Duvall-Early said. “It is possible, however, that the mere presence of a female improved the other students’ behaviors.”

Clowater’s accomplishment bodes well for the male-dominated field of computer science, Duvall-Early said.

“By successfully completing the program as a top graduate, Candice has demonstrated by example that females can be leaders in the discipline,” he said. “I sincerely hope her success will inspire more females to enter the program and/or this field of study.”

Along with classes, Clowater works as a clerical assistant at a physician’s office on Pantops, babysits regularly, and helps runs the nursery at Church of Our Savior on Rio Road.

While at PVCC, Clowater would often spend her weekends studying. One study partner, Matthew Philip Hippert of Goochland County, said Clowater is “absolutely brilliant.”

“For her to have done this great in such a male-centric field, I think it’s a pretty major accomplishment,” he said.

Clowater attended PVCC on a Science, Technology and Engineering Scholarship, a program funded through the National Science Foundation.

In the fall, Clowater intends to study computer science at the University of Virginia. She will commute in from her mother’s house in Zion Crossroads, just as she does now at Piedmont.

Down the road, Clowater is uncertain of exactly which career path she wants to take. She has lately been considering partnering with her older brother, a video game designer in Colorado. He would handle the creative side, she said, while she tackles the programming.

“Whatever I do, I know that I want it to be something with computers and programming,” she said.