AC_1965_Web

111 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M I N K MINK TANYA On co-op job at Science Research Associates, 1962. THEN AND NOW 4 B.A. Mathematics 4 M.S., Mathematics, New York University FAMI LY 4 Husband, Jim Collier 4 Children, Alexei and Quinlan ADDRESS 4 2217 Via Saldivar Glendale, CA 91208 CONTACT 818 502-0675 tmink43@yahoo.com PROFESSIONAL LIFE I G R E W U P in a left-wing, politi- cally active family in Seattle. My fa- ther was a longshoreman whose proudest moments were as a local leader of the 1971 longshore strike. My mother was a pioneering teacher of children with special needs. An older friend who attended Antioch introduced me to the college by sending me the catalog.The combi- nation of academic rigor and “real” work was compelling, and scholar- ship assistance made it possible for me to attend. Antioch turned out to be per- fect for me. I arrived with interests in writing, mathematics and chemistry but the outstanding teaching of the math faculty won me over.Co-op jobs were amazing ventures into different working and living environments and hugely empowering. My favor- ite co-ops were at Science Research Associates,a publisher of standardized tests and teaching materials based on the Near North Side of Chicago. After Ant ioch, I attended two graduate schools (NYU and University of Washington), earning a master’s degree at NYU, and tried out various post-Antioch jobs in- cluding scientific programming and teaching at various levels and in var- ious locations including Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and public high school in Nova Scotia. For seven years in the mid-70s I was an editor of science and math textbooks, a career that was directly inspired by my co-op at Science Research Associates. Responding to an ad for a job at the California Institute of Technology in 1980, I persuaded the hiring manager that my pub- lishing industry skills were transfer- able to seeking corporate funding for science and engineering. Less than a year later, the director of the Palomar Observatory was sharing a bottle of wine in his office with a colleague and myself, congratulating us for securing the funds for a new astronomical survey of the northern hemisphere: www.astro.caltech . edu/~wws/poss2. My colleague had secured a grant from the National Geographic Society and I had secured both cash and in-kind support (special high- sensitivity photographic plates) from Eastman Kodak. At that moment I knew I had fi- nally found my true calling—I had gotten corporate America to sup- port science! I felt like Robin Hood (who, incidentally, was my child- hood hero). For the next thirty years, I pur- sued a career in development (i.e., fundraising) at Caltech,Harvey Mudd College and the City of Hope. I loved spending time with scientists learn- ing about their work and then per- suading organizations and individu- als with wealth to support it. I was staff director for two major fundrais- ing campaigns at Caltech and found- ing director of its principal and ma- jor gifts group. One of my last big projects at City of Hope was help- ing to secure funding for a building to house cancer research labs and its graduate school. Along the way I also raised funds for scholarships, fellowships, educational programs and medical research. I never finished my Ph.D., and I am convinced I would have been at best a mediocre research mathema- tician, but I thrived and excelled in this interstitial space. PERSONAL LIFE I met fellow math student Jim Collier at the University of Washington. Jim has been my soul- mate for almost 45 years. I knew he and I were made for each other by the end of our first camping trip together in Olympic National Park. We were tear-gassed together in the Seattle Seven protests of 1970, and we were married in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1972. The following year found us in Los Angeles where Jim had been hired as an assistant pro-

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