Biography

by

Janet I. Herron

Adulthood to Early 30’s
Since I have always, at least it seems like always, been married with children, very little of my adult education has been easy or conventional. Two weeks after graduating high school, I got married. It was the Viet Nam era and everyone with a serious boyfriend was getting married. Most of those marriages did not last and many women became very young widows. Fortunately for my husband and me, we weathered the storms of life and persevered.

In January, 1968, my husband was drafted into the Army and I enrolled in college for the fall quarter. It would be at least a year before we knew where he would be stationed long term and knowing this, we both felt this would be the perfect opportunity for me to start college. We literally sold some beef cattle to get the money to pay for my tuition and books. But I was to get another surprise before college started in the fall. My husband surprised me with a visit before he was shipped overseas and I surprised him three months later by telling him I was pregnant. It was our first wedding anniversary.

In 1968, “good girls” went to college and those who were married and pregnant were supposed to stay at home. Somehow that slipped my mind and off to college I went. The first year was a struggle, not academically, but personally. Many of the students avoided me and several of the older professors told me that I had no business being in college when I should be at home being a wife and mother. Our daughter was born during mid-term week, winter quarter. She had birth defects and would later become epileptic, so life won out over college for a while. Her sister, born 2-1/2 years later, was also plagued with birth defects. Eventually the bills would become too much and I needed to find a career where I could make enough money to make it worthwhile and in a field of study that would keep my attention for many years to come.

In July, 1976, my then 49 year old father died when an aneurism ripped one of the valves from his heart. That fall, I went back to college, regardless of the protests from my family. I was motivated by my father’s death, my main ally in my quest for an education, and the need to support my children, while providing them with the best health care that my husband and I could provide.

For months my husband created every road block that he could to discourage me from going to college. His ego told him that it was his job to support his family and my job to take care of the family, just like our mother’s had always done. Nothing I said was going to convince him otherwise, so I prepared myself for a divorce, but told him that he had to pay for my college expenses until I was finished, so I could support our children. I was so mad at him during this time, because I felt betrayed. He knew that I had always planned to go to college and have a career and family, and I did not see that that had changed because our children were ill. If anything, I needed to go now more than before because I knew why I was going this time.

He was scared that if I got this education, it would change me and I wouldn’t need him and our family any more. Fortunately for us, one of the men he worked with and respected straightened him out on his issues. When realization hit that this was to benefit our family, not destroy it, he became my greatest supporter and has continued to be my best friend throughout the many years that I have attended college and developed my career. I graduated in 1978 with my Associate of Science degree in Architecture and Building Construction, the only female in class and the oldest person in class. I was 28 years old and it was my 11^th wedding anniversary.

Following graduation, I went to work at National Cash Register (NCR), with a starting pay of around $16,000.00 annually. I worked as a draftsperson in the research and development department. The team I worked for designed the UPC Scanners in the grocery stores and the label scanners in department stores. We received many patents for these products and I personally received two. After five years at NCR, I took another job, closer to my home, so I could get home sooner in the evenings and I could stay with my daughters in the mornings until the school bus arrived.

At McGraw-Edison I was hired as the Restructuring Manager, where I introduced computers to the company and taught them how to develop Bills of Materials, time studies, and numerous other work related tools. We also installed one of the first CADD systems in Southeastern Ohio to design the customized transformers for the electric utility industry. By this time, I was clearing $20,000 annually, more than my father had made when he passed away as a union steel mill worker.

Middle transition
In the fall of 1986, we started looking for colleges and programs for our oldest daughter, who would be graduating from high school in the spring. While doing the research, I discovered that I was looking up just as many programs for me as I was her. For the last 10 years I had worked as a draftsperson in my field of study and felt it was time to move into a higher position. Working with a number of engineers, they suggested that I should look into the field of engineering. I was skeptical because I was still interested in architecture, but when I contacted Ohio University , I found that the Architecture program had been dropped after their professors had retired, so I asked about their engineering studies.

A few days later, a representative from O.U. contacted me about returning to Ohio University in a new program for students who had been out of college for at least five years and were 25 years old or older. Since I met the requirements, having been out of O.U. for 18 years and M.A.T.C. ( Muskingum Area Technical College ) for 8 years, as well as being over 25 years old, I made an appointment with an advisor. Before I knew it, I was back, taking Saturday seminar classes and starting a portfolio of my life experiences.

The advisor and I had decided with my background in Architecture and building construction that I could best develop my degree by going into the Industrial Engineering field. So I got a student handbook and started requesting every syllabus that pertained to topic areas where I had experience. This was one of the most difficult assignments I ever had in college. I was convinced that I knew nothing and that I was completely wasting my time by going through this at my age. My daughters were in high school and playing sports. Because of their health issues, we not only went to games, but one of us also had to be at their practice sessions. My husband and I both had full time jobs and we had a working farm that had to be maintained.

My family looked at me like I was out of my mind. I was the pillar, the cheerleader that encouraged them daily, picked them up when they fell, and held their hand when they needed support. My daughters could not remember what it was like before I went to college and work, and their father never thought twice about me returning to college. Our roles reversed and for the next six months, they were my support system, encouraging me when I got tired, feeding me when I got hungry and making me rest so I could continue the next day. A little over six months later, Ohio University, not only awarded me 52 hours toward my bachelor’s degree, but also gave me credit for my first year of college, taken 18 years earlier and transferred most of my credits from my technical degree at M.A.T.C. After tallying it all up, I only required another 16 hours of credit or four classes of electives to graduate with my Bachelor of Science.

The first two courses I took by mail, attending my local branch of O.U. to have my exams proctored. I found out that this was not a wise choice for me because I could find many more interesting things that needed to be done than homework. Until I was forced to do them I would not and then I would wear myself out getting it completed by the deadline.

As much as I hated to do it, because of my first experience on this branch campus, I decided it was best for me to take the two remaining classes on campus. My first class was exciting and left me hungry for more, but the second class was another story. The professor and I were near the same age and he had just recently gotten a divorce. He made an issue of me being older than many of the other students in the class. Often he would ask questions, then refer to me as an example of what not to do or become. When taking tests, he asked us to paraphrase our answers, but when he graded mine, he wanted the exact answer that was in the book. When I tried to talk to him about the issue, he told me it was my problem, not his. So when I finished my final exam, I stood up to leave and announced that would be the last exam that I ever took. He said you’re pretty sure you’re going to pass this one? Being flippant, which is totally uncharacteristic of me, I said I better pass it. His answer to me was “and what will you do if you don’t? I think I’ll be seeing you next quarter.” Then I showed him the copies of the other student’s test papers that they had given me and then I walked out. He gave me a “C”, but I didn’t care by then what he did because he had soured me of ever returning to college. Little did I know that I would be seeking a Master’s degree in the future?

I was hired as Senior Engineer at Malta Manufacturing two weeks before I graduated in March, 1990 at $10,000.00 more a year than I had been making previously. That more than reimbursed me for getting my degree. I worked there until they closed, then I decided it was time to see if I could compete and hold my own with the “big boys” in the “big city”. I took a job in Columbus , Ohio with Edison Welding Institute on a special projects assignment for the Governor’s Task Team for Small Business Manufacturing. Let’s just say the pay raise this time was quite significant. During the years I spent at EWI, I traveled the 17 counties in Central and Southeastern Ohio assisting small manufacturers with engineering related issues to help keep them in business. I designed new products and facilities; reorganized their structural set-up; saved jobs and income, and that was just for starters. One of the highlights of my job was getting to be a part of the action and because of that, getting to meet and make plans with political figures, including former Vice-President, Al Gore . The company was a non-partisan, non-profit organization that was organized with a grant from the Thomas Edison Foundation to further the study of science and technology. Because of a sudden onset of major health problems, I had to resign my position.

Middle Adulthood
Following a recovery period, and I thought, a permanent slow down of my activities and social commitments, I formed my own company, Herron Engineering, Ltd. A year later, my youngest daughter and I formed a partnership and created a second company, Herron Renovations, Ltd. Then five years ago, I received a late evening phone call from the Dean of Engineering at our local college and one of my former Alma Maters, M.A.T.C. He needed someone to come in for a couple of weeks due to an emergency situation.

I have been there ever since. This past summer, I temporarily put my business on hold and I told my daughter that when the renovation of the house we are currently working on is completed that I am turning that business solely over to her. My poor health issues have crept up on me once again and I have been diagnosed as epileptic in the past month. Since this class started, I have had three EEG’s, an MRI, a CAT scan and an all day trip to the hospital when my husband found me in a comatose state. I have taught all my classes, except for the day I spent at the hospital and I have stayed up late many evenings in order to keep up with our assignments and to support my teammates. What I started back in 1968, I intend to finish. I do not know when that will be or how, but I do know that my family will be with me from start to finish.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me via email. Privacy Policy

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	Biography by Janet I. Herron

	Adulthood to Early 30’s Since I have always, at least it seems like always, been married with children, very little of my adult education has been easy or conventional. Two weeks after graduating high school, I got married. It was the Viet Nam era and everyone with a serious boyfriend was getting married. Most of those marriages did not last and many women became very young widows. Fortunately for my husband and me, we weathered the storms of life and persevered. In January, 1968, my husband was drafted into the Army and I enrolled in college for the fall quarter. It would be at least a year before we knew where he would be stationed long term and knowing this, we both felt this would be the perfect opportunity for me to start college. We literally sold some beef cattle to get the money to pay for my tuition and books. But I was to get another surprise before college started in the fall. My husband surprised me with a visit before he was shipped overseas and I surprised him three months later by telling him I was pregnant. It was our first wedding anniversary. In 1968, “good girls” went to college and those who were married and pregnant were supposed to stay at home. Somehow that slipped my mind and off to college I went. The first year was a struggle, not academically, but personally. Many of the students avoided me and several of the older professors told me that I had no business being in college when I should be at home being a wife and mother. Our daughter was born during mid-term week, winter quarter. She had birth defects and would later become epileptic, so life won out over college for a while. Her sister, born 2-1/2 years later, was also plagued with birth defects. Eventually the bills would become too much and I needed to find a career where I could make enough money to make it worthwhile and in a field of study that would keep my attention for many years to come. In July, 1976, my then 49 year old father died when an aneurism ripped one of the valves from his heart. That fall, I went back to college, regardless of the protests from my family. I was motivated by my father’s death, my main ally in my quest for an education, and the need to support my children, while providing them with the best health care that my husband and I could provide. For months my husband created every road block that he could to discourage me from going to college. His ego told him that it was his job to support his family and my job to take care of the family, just like our mother’s had always done. Nothing I said was going to convince him otherwise, so I prepared myself for a divorce, but told him that he had to pay for my college expenses until I was finished, so I could support our children. I was so mad at him during this time, because I felt betrayed. He knew that I had always planned to go to college and have a career and family, and I did not see that that had changed because our children were ill. If anything, I needed to go now more than before because I knew why I was going this time. He was scared that if I got this education, it would change me and I wouldn’t need him and our family any more. Fortunately for us, one of the men he worked with and respected straightened him out on his issues. When realization hit that this was to benefit our family, not destroy it, he became my greatest supporter and has continued to be my best friend throughout the many years that I have attended college and developed my career. I graduated in 1978 with my Associate of Science degree in Architecture and Building Construction, the only female in class and the oldest person in class. I was 28 years old and it was my 11^th wedding anniversary. Following graduation, I went to work at National Cash Register (NCR), with a starting pay of around $16,000.00 annually. I worked as a draftsperson in the research and development department. The team I worked for designed the UPC Scanners in the grocery stores and the label scanners in department stores. We received many patents for these products and I personally received two. After five years at NCR, I took another job, closer to my home, so I could get home sooner in the evenings and I could stay with my daughters in the mornings until the school bus arrived. At McGraw-Edison I was hired as the Restructuring Manager, where I introduced computers to the company and taught them how to develop Bills of Materials, time studies, and numerous other work related tools. We also installed one of the first CADD systems in Southeastern Ohio to design the customized transformers for the electric utility industry. By this time, I was clearing $20,000 annually, more than my father had made when he passed away as a union steel mill worker. Middle transition In the fall of 1986, we started looking for colleges and programs for our oldest daughter, who would be graduating from high school in the spring. While doing the research, I discovered that I was looking up just as many programs for me as I was her. For the last 10 years I had worked as a draftsperson in my field of study and felt it was time to move into a higher position. Working with a number of engineers, they suggested that I should look into the field of engineering. I was skeptical because I was still interested in architecture, but when I contacted Ohio University , I found that the Architecture program had been dropped after their professors had retired, so I asked about their engineering studies. A few days later, a representative from O.U. contacted me about returning to Ohio University in a new program for students who had been out of college for at least five years and were 25 years old or older. Since I met the requirements, having been out of O.U. for 18 years and M.A.T.C. ( Muskingum Area Technical College ) for 8 years, as well as being over 25 years old, I made an appointment with an advisor. Before I knew it, I was back, taking Saturday seminar classes and starting a portfolio of my life experiences. The advisor and I had decided with my background in Architecture and building construction that I could best develop my degree by going into the Industrial Engineering field. So I got a student handbook and started requesting every syllabus that pertained to topic areas where I had experience. This was one of the most difficult assignments I ever had in college. I was convinced that I knew nothing and that I was completely wasting my time by going through this at my age. My daughters were in high school and playing sports. Because of their health issues, we not only went to games, but one of us also had to be at their practice sessions. My husband and I both had full time jobs and we had a working farm that had to be maintained. My family looked at me like I was out of my mind. I was the pillar, the cheerleader that encouraged them daily, picked them up when they fell, and held their hand when they needed support. My daughters could not remember what it was like before I went to college and work, and their father never thought twice about me returning to college. Our roles reversed and for the next six months, they were my support system, encouraging me when I got tired, feeding me when I got hungry and making me rest so I could continue the next day. A little over six months later, Ohio University, not only awarded me 52 hours toward my bachelor’s degree, but also gave me credit for my first year of college, taken 18 years earlier and transferred most of my credits from my technical degree at M.A.T.C. After tallying it all up, I only required another 16 hours of credit or four classes of electives to graduate with my Bachelor of Science. The first two courses I took by mail, attending my local branch of O.U. to have my exams proctored. I found out that this was not a wise choice for me because I could find many more interesting things that needed to be done than homework. Until I was forced to do them I would not and then I would wear myself out getting it completed by the deadline. As much as I hated to do it, because of my first experience on this branch campus, I decided it was best for me to take the two remaining classes on campus. My first class was exciting and left me hungry for more, but the second class was another story. The professor and I were near the same age and he had just recently gotten a divorce. He made an issue of me being older than many of the other students in the class. Often he would ask questions, then refer to me as an example of what not to do or become. When taking tests, he asked us to paraphrase our answers, but when he graded mine, he wanted the exact answer that was in the book. When I tried to talk to him about the issue, he told me it was my problem, not his. So when I finished my final exam, I stood up to leave and announced that would be the last exam that I ever took. He said you’re pretty sure you’re going to pass this one? Being flippant, which is totally uncharacteristic of me, I said I better pass it. His answer to me was “and what will you do if you don’t? I think I’ll be seeing you next quarter.” Then I showed him the copies of the other student’s test papers that they had given me and then I walked out. He gave me a “C”, but I didn’t care by then what he did because he had soured me of ever returning to college. Little did I know that I would be seeking a Master’s degree in the future? I was hired as Senior Engineer at Malta Manufacturing two weeks before I graduated in March, 1990 at $10,000.00 more a year than I had been making previously. That more than reimbursed me for getting my degree. I worked there until they closed, then I decided it was time to see if I could compete and hold my own with the “big boys” in the “big city”. I took a job in Columbus , Ohio with Edison Welding Institute on a special projects assignment for the Governor’s Task Team for Small Business Manufacturing. Let’s just say the pay raise this time was quite significant. During the years I spent at EWI, I traveled the 17 counties in Central and Southeastern Ohio assisting small manufacturers with engineering related issues to help keep them in business. I designed new products and facilities; reorganized their structural set-up; saved jobs and income, and that was just for starters. One of the highlights of my job was getting to be a part of the action and because of that, getting to meet and make plans with political figures, including former Vice-President, Al Gore . The company was a non-partisan, non-profit organization that was organized with a grant from the Thomas Edison Foundation to further the study of science and technology. Because of a sudden onset of major health problems, I had to resign my position. Middle Adulthood Following a recovery period, and I thought, a permanent slow down of my activities and social commitments, I formed my own company, Herron Engineering, Ltd. A year later, my youngest daughter and I formed a partnership and created a second company, Herron Renovations, Ltd. Then five years ago, I received a late evening phone call from the Dean of Engineering at our local college and one of my former Alma Maters, M.A.T.C. He needed someone to come in for a couple of weeks due to an emergency situation. I have been there ever since. This past summer, I temporarily put my business on hold and I told my daughter that when the renovation of the house we are currently working on is completed that I am turning that business solely over to her. My poor health issues have crept up on me once again and I have been diagnosed as epileptic in the past month. Since this class started, I have had three EEG’s, an MRI, a CAT scan and an all day trip to the hospital when my husband found me in a comatose state. I have taught all my classes, except for the day I spent at the hospital and I have stayed up late many evenings in order to keep up with our assignments and to support my teammates. What I started back in 1968, I intend to finish. I do not know when that will be or how, but I do know that my family will be with me from start to finish.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me via email. Privacy Policy Please use my Feedback Form for additional comments: