Great expectations fulfilled

Judy Rosener is proud to say that she is a rare breed, an Orange

County Democrat who makes Lido Isle her home.

Rosener is a housewife-turned-activist who went after and obtained

a doctorate at age 50. She’s written two books, was a board member of

KCET-TV, Channel 28, served as a commissioner on the California

Coastal Commission and now teaches at UC Irvine.

The 74-year-old recently sat down with the Pilot’s Luis Pena and

fondly reminisced.

Where did you grow up? What kind of childhood did you have?

I was born and raised in one house in Los Angeles, and having

driven by to see it in the last few years, I have to say it hasn’t

changed much. The neighborhood was, and still is, a rather low-income

neighborhood. Although my father was a Caltech graduate and my mother

a graduate of UCLA (rare for women in those days), it was the

Depression and my father ended up selling insurance because he

couldn’t find an engineering job. I was fortunate to have loving

parents who in the early 1950s moved to Newport Beach. We had a

wonderful childhood. Although it was the Depression and we were poor

financially, our childhood was culturally rich. I was in junior high

school when World War II started and I remember hearing about the

bombing of Pearl Harbor, listening to President Roosevelt on the

radio and going with my mother with our ration books to get white

lard and little packages of yellow stuff to mix with it to make the

lard look like butter. And I remember collecting all kinds of metals

for the war effort. I also remember walking to school with a group

and every day stopping on the way home to buy twin popsicles for five

cents. In those days, we stayed after school and played on the

playground, for of course, we had no TV and not much else to do.

Sports were very important.

How did you end up in Newport-Mesa?

Actually my husband, Joe, laughs about this. We were living in

Pasadena where my husband had attended Caltech before we were married

in 1951. He had a managerial-level job at a good-sized electronics

company at the time but wanted to do something else. I saw an ad in

the paper for a CEO of a plasma physics company in Santa Ana. The

response was to a P.O. Box number. I suggested he answer the ad. I

first met my husband Joe on little Balboa Island in 1947 and we both liked the beach, so we thought it would be fun to move to Orange

County. So he responded to the ad never expecting to hear back. It

turned out that the owner of the company in the ad was the same man,

Gabriel Giannini, who owned the firm for which he was working at the

time. Giannini was a sailor and I assume he moved his R & D firm to

Orange County so he could sail. He lived on Lido Island, and when we

looked for the best public school (our children were then 3, 5 and 7)

we learned it was Newport Elementary. So we bought a house on Lido in

1959 and have lived there ever since. Although my husband left the

firm when it moved to the East Coast.

What are your greatest accomplishments in life?

I feel my greatest accomplishments are sequential. I was a

stay-at-home wife and mother of three children for 18 years. I went back to school at middle age, got a master’s degree and then a PhD at

the age of 50. I then became a full-time professor at UCI in 1982 at

the age of 52 and I’m still teaching, writing and doing research. I

helped save the Upper Newport Bay as a member of the 1969 Orange

County grand jury. I helped save views and access to the beach along

the Orange County Coast as a Coastal Commissioner from 1973 to ’81. I

have written two management books used widely in corporations and I’m

working on a third. And I have written articles and columns in

numerous publications. In conjunction with my teaching and writing, I

have been a keynote speaker in the Great Hall of the People in

Beijing, China, in Zurich, Switzerland, Ireland, Israel, Mexico and

Canada in addition to major conferences in the U.S.

If you could re-do one moment or incident in your life, what would

it be?

I would like to have kept my mouth shut many times when I

impulsively felt compelled to make controversial comments.

What profession other than yours would you like to have tried?

None, I love what I’m doing. I like being a professor because it

provides intellectual stimulation, time flexibility, the chance to

shape the life of others, security of employment and exposure to

wonderful people of all ages, backgrounds and talents.

What are some differences between a typical day in your life now

versus a day in your life 20 years ago?

First of all, today I don’t cook! I don’t iron and I don’t vacuum.

I contract out. ... Today, I’m at the computer for many hours; not so

20 years ago. Today, I read four newspapers a day and lots of

magazines and journals so that I can be an up-to-date professor.

Didn’t have to do that 20 years ago. Today, I talk on the phone while

driving my car. Couldn’t do that 20 years ago. And today, as I

approach 75, I look at the obituary column, which I didn’t do 20

years ago.

What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in your life?

Nothing tops being loved by those you love. I say this because

being happily married and having a loving family has provided a safe

harbor that has allowed me to be myself.

What do you treasure most?

It sounds corny, but what I treasure most is the fact that I have

a wonderful close-knit family, and lots of friends and colleagues who

provide me with intellectual and emotional challenges and support. I

say this because being able to share the “ups” of life maximizes the

joys. Being able to share the “downs” of life minimizes their impact.

I’m of the belief that when it comes to sharing “ups” and “downs,”

who better to share with than family, friends, and colleagues?

What traditions did your family have that you remember?

My extended family, many of whom live in California, has a

tradition which we call “Duzins of Cuzins.” Each year we gather at

one of our homes and spend the day together. Usually 50 to 60

relatives attend -- it’s a potluck -- and cousins, reflecting four

generations come from the East Coast and as far away as Australia to

eat, sing, tell stories, play games and take a family picture. We

keep track of births, deaths, marriages and job changes, and it’s a

tradition I suspect will continue for a long time.

What would you like people to always remember about you?

That I felt fortunate to have had a wonderful life, and spent

time, money and my professional expertise trying to enhance the lives

of others less fortunate.

What was one of the best of the unexpected things that happened in

your life?

Perhaps the most unexpected thing that happened to me was getting

a PhD at the age of 50, and being recognized around the world as an

expert on men and women at work. As a graduate of UCLA in 1951, my

lifetime expectation was to be a good wife, mother, grandmother and

community volunteer. Clearly receiving a PhD at the age of 50 and

being made a full-time faculty member in the graduate school of

management at UCI at the age of 52 changed that expectation!