Few people are able to claim that they had the honor of working closely with the talented and bright individuals within the College of Education. However, Martha Pedroza took the claim to the next level, doing so for 37 years of her distinguished career.
It is after these 37 years of service that the College of Education must say goodbye to Martha Pedroza, who leaves a legacy that dates back to 1974. With her initial role at the College consisting of a materials acquisition position, Martha was able to enhance a library collection of bilingual education literature of over 20,000 books at the SDSU Love Library. It was through this collection that teachers from all over the nation could obtain instructional materials for bilingual education.
“Teachers from all over the nation would use this collection,” Pedroza said. “I did not want bilingual kids to fall behind in learning important subject areas while they were learning English, so this was incredibly important to me.”
Martha also contributed her work to multiple federally funded research projects throughout the SDSU Research Foundation, providing developmental and technical assistance to school district personnel around San Diego. These programs included the Institute for Cultural Pluralism, the National Training Resource Center, and the Bilingual Education Service Center.
By 1993 – almost 20 years after she began work at SDSU – Martha took a break from University work and took a position with the San Diego County Office of Education’s Bilingual Education Department. Though she enjoyed her time working with the Bilingual Education Department as well as Instructional Television, she knew SDSU was where she belonged. She returned to work in the COE Dean’s Office as an Assistant to the Associate Deans.
Martha assumed responsibility of many areas of leadership within the College of Education - such as the RTP representative to the university – and received awards in excellence of leadership and innovation from both the President as well as the College’s Dean.
For about a year, Martha knew she wanted to retire before the start of this academic year. With a husband that is already retired and a family that she wishes to spend more time with, 37 years seems to be the magic number for a woman that has given so much to the educational field.
“I take away the best part of SDSU, the experience and the honor of having worked closely with many bright individuals,” Pedroza says of her lasting impression of her work. “That was the best part of this job. I will always be grateful to SDSU and the College of Education.”