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Wendy's Background |
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I received my bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1979 and my master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981. After graduation I briefly worked as a licensing engineer for Bechtel Power Corporation in San Francisco before being laid off. Having just returned from a maternity leave in which I taught part time at Chabot Community College, I decided to pursue my career as a teacher. In 1983 I became a full time faculty member of the Engineering & Technology Department at City College of San Francisco. I was tenured in 1987. During a leave of absence from 1990 to 1992 I taught at the California Maritime Academy when they (under court order) were trying to diversify and sensitize their staff. I became a tenured faculty member there before I was run off on a rail for my feminist and anti-militarist views. I happily returned to City College. In my teaching career I have taught standard Engineering courses (Statics, Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Materials Science, Mechanics of Materials, Circuit Analysis, Drafting, Descriptive Geometry, AutoCAD and AutoLISP) in addition to courses in Physics, Math and Computer Science. In 2003 I took a sabbatical leave and worked for a small engineering consultant firm to develop their data management capabilities. Among other projects, I was responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of their Engine and Emissions Performance Database. The experience taught me that databases are an underutilized tool for engineers. My primary interest outside of work is nonviolent activism. Currently my focus has been on Palestine where I have traveled in the summers of 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 as part of the International Solidarity Movement and the International Women's Peace Service. I co-founded a small non-profit called the Friends of Deir Ibzi’a in July 2002 whose mission is to support Palestinians in their nonviolent resistance to the Israeli Occupation by raising money for scholarships for students. On my sabbatical next year (2012) I intend to return and learn Arabic. Inshallah! |
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