Susan Tellier

Management Engineering Officer, U.S. Air Force; College Finance Officer, Member of WISE

And I have to say one thing about being in the military was, it taught me an appreciation for business because I had been an English and philosophy major. And I had no use for business. And then I could see the work that it took to keep something like the Air Force going. And they, at the time, really embraced good business practices. So, I came out with a greater appreciation for business, and I thought well I think I'm going to go to University of Chicago and get an MBA. I spent two and a half years doing public accounting…It was very interesting because one day I could be at a bank, and the next day a chocolate factory, and the next a stamping and forging factory--it was fascinating.

Abstract: 

Susan Tellier was born in Kingman, Arizona, in 1949, and is the former Vice President of Administration at Nichols College. She grew up in Rochester, New York, and attended elementary and high school there. Susan was married during her junior year of college and moved to Massachusetts to attend UMass [University of Massachusetts]. She and her then-husband graduated from college, and both enlisted in the military, just as the Vietnam War was coming to an end. In this interview Susan discusses her childhood in upstate New York, her experiences in elementary and high school, her career in accounting and as a college administrator, traveling across the United States, being a member of WISE as well as her life experiences as a woman. She emphasizes her mother being the main breadwinner for the family and her own personal relationships with many women who worked outside the home during the 1950s and 1960s.

Interview
Interview Date: 
October 3, 2019
Interview Focus: