I was the first in my family to attend a four-year college. My father was an accountant and my mother a secretary. I graduated in 1970 with a degree in Chemistry. I was given an early exposure to computer programming (connected to a mainframe at Dartmouth from a terminal with a paper tape reader in the basement of Founders), and worked summers in a Pendleton lab for Mrs. Dudek, one of my chemistry professors. The summer campus was VERY quiet in those days, and I had no transportation. But it was worth the sacrifice. At graduation, with excellent training in experimental methods and independent research, I was hired by Polaroid Corporation as an organic chemist. Although Polaroid management was male-dominated, there was a group of women chemists who gave me further encouragement about my ability to succeed. Later, I moved to instant photography research--a whole new technical area. In my 30's, I left Polaroid and earned an MBA from MIT's Sloan School. I went on to an almost 30-year career in semiconductor marketing and development at Analog Devices, yet another new technical arena. I retired in 2012 after a long and varied career that included travel around the world for ADI. Wellesley gave me the confidence to take on ever-changing challenges, and work effectively in an industry with few technical or management-level women. I was the first to take on many roles, and I broke ground for others to follow.

I could go on for pages about the classes, the friends, the beautiful campus, the traditions, and the athletic skills I learned, in the days before Title IX, but Wellesley is, after all, an educational institution. And, in the end, it was the education that made the most difference for me. I have always been grateful to Wellesley.