Humiston talks about her career path that led to UC ANR

“My work has taken some really weird angles,” says Humiston, shown in the lower left photo operating road construction equipment to pay for her undergraduate studies.

“I would not be standing in front of you here today in this job if it were not for 4-H,” VP Glenda Humiston told the audience at UC Office of the President, where she was the featured speaker on Aug. 16 for the Women We Admire speaker series. Humiston, who was the first in her family to attend college, credits attending 4-H camps held on a college campus for sparking her interest in higher education.

The Women We Admire series, initiated by the President's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women in 2009, brings women to UCOP from around the UC system to share insights about their careers, workplace challenges and work-life balance. 

“My work has taken some really weird angles,” Humiston said. “In fact, when I talk to young people, one of the key messages I give them is to have a big goal out there, but to be flexible about which path you take to get there because you never know where the opportunity is going to show up.”

Humiston talked about the path – from her family's cattle ranch in Colorado, through Tunisia as a Peace Corps volunteer and various USDA posts – that led her to become UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources on Aug. 3, 2015. She also talked about what UC ANR is and what it could be.

The link to the hour-long audio and slides from Humiston's talk is http://www.ucop.edu/pacsw/_files/women-we-admire/humiston.mp4.

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