After thirty-five years at Western, Earlene Kent retired this spring to spend more time with her family. When she began working at the university, she had no training in computers and joined a pool of other women who were doing data entry in Bond Hall on a huge IBM system that was fed with 8-inch diskettes. Through personal initiative and support from key mentors, she worked her way up to leading software trainings across campus, and by the time of her retirement she was Information Technology Specialist in the office of Academic Technology and User Services (ATUS). Earlene’s own inspiring account of her time at Western—of the challenges, accomplishments, friendships, and lessons learned along the way—can be read here.
