2022 State Named Gift Honoree
Mary Isaac
La Mesa-El Cajon Branch
Mary Isaac, La Mesa-El Cajon Branch, was presented with the 2021-2022 State Named Gift at the virtual annual meeting, April 30, 2022.
Mary “Dr. Mimi” Isaac is a passionate practitioner and researcher interested in improving female engagement and retention in engineering and technology (E & T) through formal and informal communities of practice. Born and raised in upstate NY, she moved to San Diego to be a grand nanny to her now 13 year old grandson while in grad school, and is a member of the AAUW La Mesa-El Cajon branch.
She has been the director of AAUW California’s virtual camp since it piloted during Covid year 0, then was scaled up in 2021, and subsequently added to the Tech Trek CA program as a permanent offering in 2022.
Acknowledgements
Congratulations to AAUW California members and branches for generously donating $494.020.04 to AAUW Funds in 2021!
Contributions – Ten Top Branches
- San Francisco $40,526.00
- Marin $38,367
- San Jose $16,115
- Carlsbad-Oceanside-Vista $14,962
- La Mesa-El Cajon $14,898.00
- Hayward-Castro Valley $14,808
- Long Beach $14,369
- Danville-Alamo-Walnut Creek $14,314
- Orinda-Moraga-Lafayette $13,700
- Sacramento $13,203
Per Capita—Ten Top Branches
- San Francisco Inc $675.43
- Berkeley $597.56
- Marin $259.24
- Hayward-Castro Valley $180.59
- La Palma-Cerritos $170.64
- Carlsbad-Oceanside-Vista $162.63
- San Fernando Valley $156.05
- West Contra Costa $133.18
- Cabrillo-Diego $132.24
- Long Beach and Orinda-Moraga-Lafayette (tied) $114.95 & $114.17
She lived and worked in many areas of the energy business at GE for over 30 years with a BS in mechanical engineering (Union ’82), retiring from an executive position in 2006 in North Carolina to start her own educational consultancy focused on engaging more females in engineering (HEDGE ’11) and PhD in education (ODU ’15).
Besides AAUW, she partners actively with several organizations committed to equity in sTEm fields’ education and assessment, including the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), FIRST, ASEE, NCWIT, AEA, and ITEEA. Additionally, she serves as an Advisor to the Academy of Engineering program at Harmony Magnet school in Porterville, CA since fall 2020.
Besides AAUW, she partners actively with several organizations committed to equity in sTEm fields’ education and assessment, including the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), FIRST, ASEE, NCWIT, AEA, and ITEEA. Additionally, she serves as an Advisor to the Academy of Engineering program at Harmony Magnet school in Porterville, CA since fall 2020.
Her research interests lie in examining the socio-cultural-economic aspects of engaging and retaining females in engineering and technology fields, specifically as it relates to the community of practice of female engineers/potential engineers. She volunteers as robot inspector and referee annually for FTC and FRC since 2015 in the San Diego region. She is also a SWE Fellow and SWENext Counselor.
She serves on National Science Foundation (NSF) and CA Department of Education panels and regularly evaluates proposals for funding, awards, and conference sessions in her work with others.
She is married to “St. Nick” and they currently share their home with four rescued dogs and an assortment of musical instruments and sound equipment to support their music habit.
Click HERE to view previous honorees