UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #757
ANDERSON, MARY

ANDERSON, Mary (1948- )
Professor Emerita of Hydrogeology in the Department of Geoscience; Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies; Geological Engineering Program
At UW: 1975-2009

Interviewed: 2006	
Interviewer: Sandy Pfahler
Length: 	1 hour, 56 minutes

Early education; University of Buffalo; Graduate study in geology at Stanford; Geology and Geophysics Department; Tenure; Publications; Teaching; Institute for Environmental Studies; Committee service; University Committee; Honors and awards; Campus climate; Leisure; Scientific accomplishments.  

First Interview Session (April 6, 2006): Digital File (Tapes 1-2)

Time	Keywords
00:00:00	[Begin Tape 1/Side 1] Start of Interview/Interviewer’s Introduction

00:00:31	Mary Anderson was born in Buffalo in 1948.  She describes growing up in a Polish neighborhood.  Private high school.  Regents’ exams for a state diploma.  Earth science exam. Influential teacher with whom she studied earth science.  Musical interests.

00:05:53	MA talks about her parents and their education.  They always encouraged her academic pursuits.

00:07:26	Summer course in music theory at the University of Buffalo.  She wanted to stay in Buffalo to attend college.  During that summer she realized she didn’t have the necessary talent to be a music major. She revived her interest in earth science.

00:12:07	Her high school teachers viewed her decision to attend Buffalo and major in geology as un-ladylike.  Her parents were supportive.

00:13:15	MA won a scholarship to help fund her college education.

00:13:51	She describes her experience at the University of Buffalo.  She talks about the geology department and courses she took.  An influential geology professor encouraged her to go west for graduate school.

00:17:44	MA chose to pursue graduate studies at Stanford University.  Her move was difficult for her parents.

00:20:31	Graduate studies at Stanford.  Master’s thesis in fluviogeomorphology.

00:22:12	During the summer she worked a consulting job in Los Angeles.  She disliked this type of job and opted to pursue a PhD at Stanford instead.

00:23:35	Courses on civil engineering.

00:24:26	PhD research on mathematical modeling to predict how ground water moves.  She hated her experience as a teaching assistant.

00:27:36	Her husband was a graduate student in chemistry.  She graduated with her PhD in 1973.  She found an adjunct position at Southampton College on Long Island and taught courses on stratigraphy, hydrogeology, and sedimentation.  Long Island was a good laboratory for studying ground water problems.

00:32:26	MA interviewed for a position at the University of Wisconsin in 1975.  There were no other women in the department.

00:39:20	She talks about the national reputation of the UW department of geology and geophysics.

00:41:39	New physical facilities for the department.  Lab facilities.

00:47:03	[Begin Tape 1/Side 2] Mary Anderson describes tenure proceedings in the department of geology and geophysics.

00:53:40	Culture of the department.  Difficulties of doing interdisciplinary work.  Textbooks she has published.

00:57:26	MA has joint appointments in the Institute for Environmental Studies and the Geological Engineering Program.

00:59:36	She describes courses she taught at UW.  Some of her most notable students.

01:04:10	MA chaired instructional programs at the Institute for Environmental Studies in 1993.  She was elected to the University Committee and served for three years.  She also served as department chair and edited the journal Groundwater.  Service on the University Committee was a terrible experience for her.  Physical Sciences Divisional Committee.

01:26:28	Honors and awards.

01:33:59	[End tape 1; begin tape 2] Mary Anderson discusses the campus climate for women.

01:36:20	Trends in women students in the department.

01:37:44	She describes her family.  Leisure activities.  Aikido group.

01:50:48	MA describes some of her major scientific accomplishments, including her clarification of the mixing processes in groundwater systems.

01:55:41	End of First Interview Session.

End of Interview #757