UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #805
STUNDEN, ANNIE

STUNDEN, Annie (1935- )
Retired Chief Information Officer and Director of the UW Division of Information Technology
At UW: 2000-2006

Interviewed: 2006	
Interviewer: Sandy Pfahler
Length: 1 hour, 37 minutes

Abstract: Childhood and early education in Queens, New York.  Parents and siblings; Undergraduate education in speech pathology at UCLA; Graduate studies at UCLA;  Becoming a computer programmer for System Development Corporation; Marriage and children; Career in hospital information technology; Career in university information technology management; Positions at the University of Rochester, Northwestern, Cornell; Chief Financial Officer and Director of the Division of Information Technology at the UW; Climate for women at UW; Professional service; Awards and Honors; Hobbies, recreation, and post-retirement.

Interview Session (September 1, 2006): Tapes 1-2

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:46	Stunden was born in Brooklyn, New York.  Her father was a fireman and her mother was a home maker.  She is a 2nd generation English-speaker.  She grew up in Queens.

00:01:35	She attended Public School 118 in Queens.  She discusses her kindergarten teacher.  She talks about her sister’s medical problems.  Her family and siblings.

00:04:18	She talks about being a good student in early elementary.  She was less interested in high school and had a lot of uncertainty about who she was and who she wanted to be.

00:04:57	A.S. was the first in the family to attend college.  

00:05:45	Her father lost his job and the family moved to California when she was 16.  She talks about the experience of moving.

00:07:41	She attended UCLA.  She talks about making plans for college and the fact that few of her female classmates thought about college or were expected to go to college.

00:09:26	She talks about her father’s encouragement and support.  Her “painful” experience starting at UCLA.  She was very much an outsider as an ex-New Yorker at UCLA.  She worked as a telephone operator as a summer job.  She decided to work full time, but her father got her to go back to UCLA.

00:12:40	She was studying to be a high school English teacher.  Gendered expectations for women’s careers.  She ended up studying speech therapy.

00:14:18	She entered graduate school to study speech pathology at UCLA.  She talks about some of her part time jobs and teaching at a school for children with speech problems.

00:15:18	She talks about why she left graduate school.  She took a job with System Development Corporation in 1959.  She started working as a computer programmer.  She talks about the people who were early computer programmers at a time when there was no computer training at college.

00:18:12	Computer training at SDC.

00:20:12	She talks about working for SDC until 1964.  She was married and had a baby in 1964.  Her husband was studying for a Ph.D. in psychology at UCLA and working full time.

00:22:39	Her husband accepted a teaching position at Western Michigan University.  She talks about her dissatisfaction with being a stay-at-home mother.  She took a job as a systems engineer for IBM in Kalamazoo.  She talks about their two years in Michigan.

00:25:58	They moved back to California and she continued working for IBM at a Los Angeles office for a short time.  She went back to work for SDC and helped design air defense systems.  The Strategic Air and Ground Environment.  Back Up Interceptor Command.

00:27:02	AS talks about the new computer hardware in use in the mid-1960s.

00:27:56	She had a second baby and left her job in 1968.  She again got tired of being a housewife and went back to work.  She managed an information technology department for Holy Cross hospital in LA.

00:31:17	End of Side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:31:18	She talks her experience working at the hospital and the challenges of being a woman manager.

00:34:28	She discusses problems she had working on an air defense project at SDC.

00:37:34	She talks about working at the hospital in the early 1970s.  Earthquake damage.

00:40:29	She talks about getting a divorce and deciding to get a fresh start.  She took a job Booz Allen Hamilton in Richmond, Virginia.  She developed systems for the Medical College of Virginia.

00:41:03	She talks about moving across the country with her children and getting adjusted to her new position.  Learning new skills, organizing, writing professionally.

00:41:14	Stunden discusses her salary and her colleagues’ background and experience.  Her frustration at being a consultant.

00:45:16	She took a position as manager of IT at a Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York.  She worked there for 5-6 years.  

00:48:42	She became Associate Director of Computing at the University of Rochester.  Gaining valuable management experience.  She eventually became the Director.

00:49:42	AS talks about early development in desktop computers and computer services for students and faculty.

00:50:30	She became Director of Academic Computing at Northwestern University in Chicago in 1990.  Advances in e-mail technology and classroom technology.

00:52:10	She took a position as Director of Academic Computing at Cornell University in 1995.  Internet technology.  Computer help desks and front-end services.

00:53:15	She talks about being recruited by the University of Wisconsin in 1999.  The interview process.  

00:58:10	She discusses some of the positive aspects of UW administration and the opportunities they afford for developing quality programs.

00:59:31	AS talks about her age and giving a 5-year promise when taking the job.

01:00:35	She discusses the nature of her job at UW.

01:02:36	End of Side.  End of Tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

01:02:37	Stunden talks about the difference between being a Chief Information Officer and Director of the Division of Information Technology.  She spent the majority of her time working on DOIT issues.

01:04:41	She talks about some of her long-term goals for DOIT when she started.  

01:05:48	She talks about some of the shortcomings with the DOIT facilities.  There is a lack of space, but the facility is generally adequate.

01:06:39	Stunden talks about working to create a collaborative culture at UW.  The previous model had been more competitive and did not work together on projects.

01:08:03	The poor morale at DOIT when she arrived.  Integration of the Help Desk and the Repair Desk.  Increased efficiency in customer service.

01:12:10	AS discusses the large scale of operations and the continued growth of UW computing.  She outlines some concerns about IT funding.  She talks about a potential lack of large-scale vision in UW administration.

01:13:59	She talks about completion of the 21st Century Network.  Networking with other universities in the Big 10.

01:15:39	She talks about the Northern Tier Network Consortium.  

01:17:40	The Broadband Optical Research Education, Academic, and Science Network.

01:18:22  	Stunden talks about her involvement in campus committees and organizations.  The Dean’s Council.  The Chancellor’s Cabinet.

01:19:44	She mentions the upcoming accreditation process and the need for UW to pay attention to IT.  Privacy concerns.  The need for high-level discussion and planning.

01:22:04	AS talks about the “mixed” climate for women on the UW campus.  She relates a few observations about experiences of women on campus.  She thinks there are some real problems.  Her experience on the Dean’s Council.

01:23:49	She talks about the number of women in DOIT.  She believes gender is not a significant issue in the department.  She explains why she thinks women in computing have some advantages.

01:25:27	She briefly lists some of her involvements with professional organizations.  

01:26:02	She talks about some of her awards and honors.  EDUCAUSE.

01:27:52	Stunden talks about the problem of balancing family life and professional life.  Being a working mother.

01:28:41	AS enjoys quilting as a hobby.  She also enjoys gardening.

01:30:26	She talks about her children and helping raise her sister’s children.  She also has 7 grandchildren.  

1:33:28	She maintains a few IT consulting jobs and has been invited to join a consulting firm.

1:33:53	End of Side.

Tape 2/Side 2

1:33:53	She discusses her house in Pittsburgh, where she retired.  Renovation.

1:34:26	She talks about missing some of her former colleagues at UW.  She mentions that her father was happy to know she went into computing.  She talks about her siblings and their careers.

1:36:42	End of Side.  End of Tape.  End of Interview.

END