Celebrating Personal Success

Associate Dean Creates Newsletter that Celebrates Women and University Anniversary

March 10, 2008

By Russ Hudson

A woman who earned her law degree, passed the bar, then gave it all up to get a master’s degree in computer science.

A woman who found mechanical things fascinating as a child and had parents who encouraged her getting a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

A woman who planned to be an accountant but ended up with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and, 27 years later, a master’s degree in software engineering.

Three Cal State Fullerton alumnae with stories of perserverance and strength are featured in the inaugural issue of Celebrating Personal Success, a print and online newsletter created by  Dorota Huizinga, associate dean of Engineering and Computer Science. 

“This is meant to celebrate Women’s History Month by celebrating high-achieving women, celebrate engineering because the three who were highlighted are ECS graduates, and celebrate the university’s 50th anniversary by pointing out the quality of graduates that it has produced,” said the publication’s author.

“We enjoyed doing this so much, we hope it is only the first issue. This kind of newsletter has never been tried here in ECS before, so we’ll see what happens next. We have a lot of great alumnae out there we would like to highlight.”

The three highlighted women, respectively, are Dardenella Robinson (M.S. computer science ’93), Mona Simpson (B.S. mechanical engineering ’87) and Laurie Haack (B.S. computer science ’79 and M.S. software engineering ’06).

In addition, the publication showcases six women who played key roles in the development of what has evolved into the modern computer but who now are nearly forgotten.

The newsletter is posted on the Web at http://www.fullerton.edu/ecs/events/women/index.html. It also is available in the Dean’s office, located in Room 502 of Computer Science Building.