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About Mary
Mary Walshok is an adjunct professor of sociology at the University of California, San Diego, contributing to the Social Science faculty with expertise in industrial sociology. She received her BA from Pomona College in 1964, MA in sociology from Indiana University in 1966, and PhD in sociology in 1969. Walshok joined UC San Diego in 1972 as a research sociologist in the Extension division, advancing to associate dean in 1975 and dean from 1980 to 2021. She also served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Programs, leading continuing education and public programs that enrolled over 80,000 learners annually in more than 4,400 courses. Her leadership expanded outreach initiatives, including programs for first-generation and low-income pre-college youth serving over 100,000 students, teachers, and parents each year, such as the Sally Ride Science programs, Engineering and Data Science Academies, and Academic Connections.
A thought leader on aligning workforce development with regional economic growth, Walshok researched American regions for the US Department of Labor, National Science Foundation, and Lilly Foundation. Her publications include Blue Collar Women, Knowledge Without Boundaries (1995), Closing America's Job Gap (2011), and Invention and Reinvention: The Evolution of San Diego's Innovation Economy (2013, co-authored with Abraham Shragge), alongside over 100 articles, reports, and book chapters on regional innovation, workforce development, and research universities' economic roles. She co-founded CONNECT in 1985 to foster entrepreneurship, UCTV in 1993, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and spearheaded the Park & Market downtown center opened in 2022 as a hub for university-community collaboration in arts, social sciences, health, and engineering. Walshok's contributions earned her the San Diego Business Journal Lifetime Achievement Award (2022), Royal Order of the Polar Star (Knighthood, First Class, 2002 from the King of Sweden), honorary doctorate from the Stockholm School of Economics, Bynne B. Tudor Honorary Lectureship at Oxford University, Kellogg Foundation Leadership Fellowship, and election to the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering and Economic Sciences.
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